The Return of the Wood Duck is a conservation story highlighting perhaps the most beautiful duck in the world, the American Wood Duck. The film chronicles the history of this unique American species through native references, art, literature and ancient artifacts. Weaved around the story of the Wood Duck's sudden decline, response to decline and eventual recovery is the history of the conservation movement in America. Witness close-up the pair bond, courtship, feeding and nesting of a pair of Wood Ducks. The peak of the life- cycle (leap of life) is the jumping from the nest of the day-old ducklings. A section on conservation and ethical hunting demonstrates how sportsmen and conservationists can work together, as did John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, to save what is left for future generations.