SHOVELER

Anas clypeata

Class: Aves

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds in North America, Europe, and Asia, winters in the tropics. It is the most widespread of all the Shovelers. Three other species are found in South America, Australia and New Zealand.

HABITAT: Shallow freshwater areas with marsh vegetation.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Males have a green head and neck, white chest, reddish belly and white back with black strip in the center. The shoulder wing patch is blue in both sexes, feet orange, speculum green, and a flat head with a long bill that is shaped like a spatula. Length 14", wingspan 31", weight 1.5 lbs.

LONGEVITY: About 16 years

SPECIAL ADAPTIATIONS: Bill is used for straining and has webbed feet which help in swimming.

HABITS: Occurs in small flocks of 5-10 individuals. The Shoveler is a surface feeding duck which does not upend to feed like the Pintail or Mallard. It quickly skims the surface of the water while paddling with its head half submerged.

REPRODUCTION: Sexually mature at one year, the males leave the females after incubation begins. The nests are made of grass and down and placed in hollows on high ground. 5-14 olive green or buffy eggs are laid per nest; the incubation period is 28 days. Shovelers will renest if the first nest is destroyed, only 59% of the eggs laid ever hatch. The young can swim within 24 hours of hatching.

POPULATION STATUS: Not endangered, about 1,885,000. The main predators are the skunk and ground squirrel.

DIET: Surface plankton strained from the water, insects, seeds of grasses, mollusks, small fishes.

NOTES OF INTEREST: The species name clypeata means "furnished with a shield" which refers to the large spatulate bill. The common name Shoveler suggests the shape and use of the bill in feeding.