Pennsylvania artist Jocelyn Beatty has been named the winner of the 2014 Nevada Duck Stamp Art Contest. Her winning entry featuring two American coots floating on the water will now grace Nevada's 2014-2015 State Duck Stamp.

The annual contest is sponsored by the Nevada Waterfowl Association (NWA) and sanctioned by the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW). All of the winning entries can be viewed on the NDOW website at www.ndow.org/Nevada_Wildlife/Duck_Stamp/.

"It was a challenge to paint a gray-black bird compared to the colorful ducks I usually paint. I tried to get more color in the water and the aspen leaves were a pop of color," said Beatty. "I'm glad they liked it."

This is not the first time that Beatty has claimed the top prize in a duck stamp contest, winning the Pennsylvania Waterfowl Stamp twice in 2003 and again this year for 2014. She is the only woman to have won the Pennsylvania stamp contest. She has also been named the Ducks Unlimited artist of the year twice (2005 and 2006).

The subject of this year's contest was the American coot. Coots are medium-sized, chicken-like birds that are members of the Rallidae (rail) family. Although the American Coot (Fulica americana) is commonly mistaken for a duck, they actually belong to their own distinct order. Where a duck has webbed feet, a coot has broad lobes on their toes.

The American Coot is typically 13-17 inches in length. Adults have a short, thick, white bill and white frontal shield, which usually has a reddish-brown spot near the top of the bill between the eyes. Males and females look alike, but females are smaller.

"I have often observed coots when I was out photographing ducks and always found them interesting, sometimes their heads look like black velvet. It was fun to paint something different, and I enjoy the research," said Beatty.