Two New Zealanders have quacked their way to glory at the annual World Waterfowl Calling Championships in the United States.
Competitors from all over the world were in Maryland at the weekend to show off their best duck and goose impressions in front of judges and hundreds of spectators.
All the way from the South Island, Hunter Morrow and Holly Irvine had travelled the furthest distance to attend the competition.
Hunter Morrow. Photo: Supplied
Mr Morrow, a 20-year-old builder from Central Otago, is this country's reigning champion.
He wowed judges with an uncannily similar impression of a duck and a goose, using a woodwind instrument aptly named a "duck call".
He was awarded second place overall - the highest placing ever awarded to a New Zealander.
His mother, Tracey Morrow, said she had spoken with her son not long after the results had been announced.
"He was absolutely speechless and super stoked at his result. We are ridiculously proud."
Holly Irvine. Photo: Supplied
Miss Irvine, a school-girl from Nelson, was the only female in the entire competition. She placed third in the junior duck-calling division.
"I practise a few hours a night normally, usually outside or in a different room though."
She said she loved doing it, even though it was not a typical hobby for a teenage girl.
"I just want to come first in the world for juniors and then just keep going."
Her father, Geoff Irvine, said Holly had always been interested in duck-calling and had come out duck-shooting with him from a young age.
"She came out when she was about six or eight, from memory and she couldn't really do anything else so we just gave her a duck call and got her to blow it and she picked it up from there and really loves doing it."
New Zealand Duck Calling Championships organiser Adam Rayner said hunters spent years crafting the perfect duck call and it was a good chance to show it off.
"Anything that we can do to make our hunting adventures a bit more exciting or a bit more fruitful then we're gonna do it so duck-calling and practising how to use your duck call properly obviously will get you more ducks in your bag.
"So if you want to get good at it, practise hard and then these competitions have come up over the years so it's good, it's really exciting."
He said duck-calling was a huge competition in the United States and it was fantastic for New Zealanders to place.
"It's sort of hard to imagine this in New Zealand but waterfowling is gigantic in the States... it's amazing that this has happened for both of them."
The most recent New Zealand Duck Calling Championships were held last month in Taupo.
Hunter Morrow and Holly Irvine at the World Waterfowl Calling Championships. Photo: Supplied