A bald-headed person, or a type of duck with a white head and dark body found in North America.
From 'bald' plus 'pate' (a person's head), dating to the 1500s. Originally an insult, it later became the common name for the American wigeon duck.
The term shows how personal appearance (being bald) could become a bird name—naturalists spotted the duck's distinctively white head and thought 'that looks like a bald-headed fellow!' and the name stuck.
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