Nature Done Wright

Few Americans realize that from 1973 to the mid-1980s, South Carolina required all resident bird-watchers to be licensed.

The controversial birder licenses required applicants to take demanding written and oral tests (mostly involving the replication of bird calls, including gamecocks and the eponymous Carolina Wrens).

The licenses cost $100 a year, and were manufactured by prisoners in the now-closed South Carolina State Penitentiary in Columbia.

Visiting birders could buy temporary licenses for $10, good for one contiguous week.

Pictured above is a wallet-size South Carolina birding license from 1984, the last year they were required. That same year, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the licenses "too Orwellian."

Little known fact: The Palmetto State is said to be the only state to issue metal birding licenses.

The corresponding learner's permit was made of cardboard.  These so-called  "fledgling's permits" are now considered the ultimate collector's item because so few have stood the test of time.

Other April Fools Week posts include:

Age-old Cheese Mystery Solved

Strange Allendale Nighttime Cam Pics