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| Wetlands & Waterfowl's Guide to North American Waterfowl: | |||
| Click to load: American Bittern American Widgeon Black- Crowned Night Heron Black Duck Blue-Winged Teal Canada Goose Canvasback Cattle Egret Common Egret Cinnamon Teal Gadwall Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green-Winged Teal Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Mallard Mute Swan Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Redhead Ring-Necked Duck Snowy Egret Snow Goose Trumpeter Swan Wood Duck |
Northern Shoveler Scroll down for details  Scientific Name: Anas discors Habitat: marshes, lakes and shallow ponds Appearance: 17-20" long. Distinctive long, shovel- shaped bill. Male: green head; white breast, rusty flanks. Female: sandy brown body; chalky blue wing patches. Food: Crustaceans, insects, mollusks, aquatic plants, seeds. Nesting: Nest is a down-lined hollow of grass, hidden in vegetation usually near water. Female lays 6-14 buff or greenish eggs and incubates for about 26 days. Young are downy, leave the nest soon after hatching and fly at about 7 weeks. |
The Northern Shoveler is the most widespread and
abundant representative of a closely related group of ducks that have a spatulate bill.
The other three species of spatulate billed ducks reside in the Southern Hemisphere and
have presumably descended from the northern species. The Northern Shoveler has an almost
circumpolar distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, and migrates long distances to winter
in the Southern United States, Mexico, Africa and Southeast Asia. The most obvious feature
of this bird is its unusual, spoon-shaped bill. The bill has a series of well developed
lamellae along the edges which serve to strain out tiny crustaceans and other food
particles. In addition to their normal surface feeding, Shovelers will also "tip
up", often for longer periods than other surface feeders. Shovelers can also dive and
use their wings to swim underwater.
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