Found a decoy?
You found an old decoy. Is it worth anything? The honest answer is that it's almost certainly a factory bird worth $20 to $50. However, one in a thousand is something a collector would drive across the state for, and the difference isn't always obvious to the eye. That's where I come in. I've tracked thousands of real auction results, and I can tell you in about five minutes which bird you're holding.
Send me four photos: the top view, both sides, and the bottom of the decoy. I aim to reply in less than 24 hours.
Or run the five-minute check yourself ↓Carvers who field identification requests say the same thing: nearly every bird that comes in is a factory decoy. Here's how the three outcomes look, and what to do with each.
Most likely · 9 in 10
$20 – $50
A factory decoy from Mason, Pascagoula, Herter's, or Victor, in later or repainted condition. Mass-produced, well-loved, and genuinely nice to look at. Keep it on the mantel; don't expect an auction house to want it.
Sometimes · 1 in 10
$100 – $1,500
A factory bird in original paint and a better grade, or a hand-carved working decoy by a regional maker. These show up in the weekly online auctions all the time. Compare it against the maker's page here before you decide anything.
Rare · 1 in 1,000
$2,000 and up
A known carver, a documented rig, original paint, honest wear. Somebody finds one of these every year, usually without knowing what they have. If the checklist below keeps saying yes, stop and talk to a carver before you do anything else.
The five-minute check
When a photo lands in an experienced collector's inbox, they've usually sorted it in under a minute. These are the things they check, in the order they check them. Work through all five.
Written with help from carvers who answer these questions for free, every week.
The bottom tells you more than the top. Look for a stamp, a brand, initials burned or carved in, a name in paint, or a weight that's been there a long time. A Mason bottom looks nothing like a hand-carved one. Take a clear photo of the bottom whatever you find.
Glass eyes, tack eyes, painted eyes, or no eyes at all. Factories used glass on their better grades and paint or tacks on the cheap ones. A hand carver's eye choice is one of their signatures.
Old paint goes dry, crazes into a fine web, and wears through at the high spots — the head, the breast, the tail. A repaint looks even, glossy, and fills the cracks. Original paint in worn condition beats a fresh repaint every single time.
Solid or hollow? Wood, cork, or something lighter? A hollow-carved bird with a bottom board took real skill and time. Check for a keel or weight on the bottom and whether the head is a separate piece. Note the length, bill to tail.
Whose was it, and where did they hunt? Decoys were carved for a particular water, and the style tells a carver where it was made. "Grandpa's, from the bay near Tacoma" is real information. Write down whatever the family remembers.
If step one turned up a stamp or a familiar shape, it's probably one of these. Each links to that maker's page, where every auction result we've recorded is listed — what the bird actually brought, not what someone hoped it would.
Mason Decoy FactoryDetroit, 1896–1924. The most common decoy you'll find, and the one with the widest range: a worn Standard grade is a cabin bird, a Premier grade in original paint is not.Typical at auction: $870 · Record: $354,000Auction results only cover the better birds. A worn Standard grade is still a $20–50 cabin decoy.
Pascagoula factoriesMississippi, 1920s–1960s. Tupelo gum, often with painted eyes and a flat bottom. The second-most-common bird in the "is this worth anything" inbox. Almost always decoration.Typical at auction: — · Record: —Not one of these? Browse all makers — sorted by region, with a photo of each one's record bird.
Typical is the middle price of the last twelve months, including the buyer's premium; a dash means fewer than 10 sales in that window. Record is the highest price in our records.
The big finds don't usually look like much. They're dirty, the paint is worn, and they've been in a shed for fifty years. What sets them apart is the combination: a bird that passes all five checks at once, and a style a carver can place to a region and a hand.
Recent finds, from the record
Tad Beach – Whimbrel – 2026Three top-of-record lots from the last ninety days, pulled from the auction results we track. Every one of them was somebody's cabin bird once.
If your bird came out of a barn, a boathouse or a grandfather's closet near one of these green marks, it is worth a second look before it goes in a yard sale. Tap a region to see who carved there and what their birds have sold for.
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic hotspots are shown enlarged below.
Price ranges are rough guides for now, until they're worked out from the sales in our records. They describe birds in original paint and sound condition; repainted or repaired birds sell for a fraction.
Still not sure?
Not sure what you've got? You don't need to know anything about decoys to find out. Send a few photos and whatever you know about where it came from, and I'll take the first look. If it's a factory bird, I'll tell you straight and you can stop wondering. If it looks like more than that, I'll pass it to someone who knows that region's birds for a second opinion. There's no charge, no pressure to sell, and you'll know what you have before anyone talks about money.
I've been around waterfowling and decoys my whole life, and I'm always looking to add to my collection. If your bird turns out to be the real thing and you'd rather sell than hold onto it, I'll make you a fair cash offer: no auction fees, no damage during shipping, no six-month wait, money in hand.
You'll see what comparable birds have sold for before I name a number, and I'll always tell you if auction would do better.
Carver or collector who'd like to be one of the people I call? Tell me.
Email a picture or two to decoydatabase@gmail.com with where the bird came from, and I'll get back to you within a day.