Northern Shoveler

Anas clypeata

Order ANSERIFORMES - Family ANATIDAE - Subfamily Anatinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Perhaps the most outwardly distinctive of the dabbling ducks, the Northern Shoveler inhabits wetlands across much of North America. Its elongated, spoon-shaped bill has comblike projections along its edges, which filter out food from the water.

Cool Facts

• The bill of the Northern Shoveler is about 6.5 cm (2.5 inches) long. The bill has has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges, for straining food from water.

• Northern Shoveler pairs are monogamous, and remain together longer than pairs of other dabbling duck species.

• When flushed off the nest, a female Northern Shoveler often defecates on its eggs, apparently to deter predators.

Description

• Size: 44-51 cm (17-20 in)
• Weight: 400-820 g (14.12-28.95 ounces)

• Medium-sized duck.
• Very long bill, wider at tip than at base.
• Male with iridescent green head, white chest, and rusty sides.

• Top of wing with a large light blue patch near the front and a line of green feathers along the rear.
• White under the wings.
• Legs orange.

Sex Differences

Breeding male is gaudy, with a dark green head, black bill, white chest, and chestnut flanks. Female is subtly colored and patterned overall, in gray, brown, and black.

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Head dark glossy green. Bill black. Back black. Chest white. Flanks and belly chestnut-brown. Eyes yellow.
Eclipse (Basic) Plumage: Duller. Head and breast brownish black speckled with whitish or tan. Back black with tan feather edges. Flanks light brown. May show indistinct white crescent on face behind bill. Eyes yellow.

Female

Grayish-brown overall; some feathers have light edging with darker centers. Bill olive-green with yellowish base and edges. Eyes brown.

Immature

Similar to adult female.

Similar Species

• Mallard has chestnut chest and pale flanks, as well as a smaller greenish yellow bill.
• Blue-winged Teal and Cinnamon Teal have similar wing pattern in all plumages, but are smaller with much smaller bills.
• Adult female and immature Northern Shoveler distantly resemble females and immatures of other duck species, but are easily distinguished by their very long bills.

Sound

Male gives a nasal bray in fall courtship. Female makes various quacks. Also makes a rattling noise, unique among dabbling ducks, upon taking flight.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from northern Alaska eastward to Manitoba and Minnesota and southward to the Central Valley of California and northern New Mexico. Also locally across eastern Canada and along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Also in northern Eurasia from Britain to Siberia.

Winter Range

Winters throughout much of the southern and southwestern United States, Mexico, western Central America, and the Caribbean. Also in southern Europe, Africa, and southern Asia.

Habitat

Breeds in open, shallow wetlands. In winter, inhabits both freshwater and saline marshes.

Food

Small swimming invertebrates and some seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages by swimming along with bill lowered into the water, straining out small crustaceans and other invertebrates. It does not commonly tip its head and upper body forward into the water.

Courtship

Males exhibit elaborate courtship behavior, including various calls, turns, dips, and wing flaps.

Reproduction

Nest Type

A simple scrape lined with down and usually surrounded on at least three sides by vegetation. Placed in short vegetation near water.

Egg Description

Pale greenish gray or olive-buff.

Clutch Size

8-12 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Covered in down and able to walk and swim.

Conservation Status

Breeding populations appear to be relatively stable.

Other Names

Canard souchet (French)
Pato chucharrón norteño (Spanish)
Shoveler (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Dubowy, P. J. 1996. Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). In The Birds of North America, No. 217 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.