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Northern Shoveler
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Common Name:Northern
Shoveler
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anas
SpeciesAnas clypeata
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Photo: M. Noonan |
The Northern
Shoveler is a duck included in the family Anatidae. This
family is made up of ducks and duck-like waterfowl. The
members of this family share adaptations to life on the water
including webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers with special
oils to prevent water absorption. The Northern Shoveler is a dichromatic species. This means that the
male and female are different in color. In the
breeding season, the male Northern Shoveler displays an iridescent
green head, a yellow eye, a white chest, and chestnut colored sides.
It also has a green speculum, white tail, and black bill.
When it
is not the breeding season, the male is more mottled with a brown
colored head. The female Northern Shoveler has a mottled appearance
with a brown eye, a green speculum, a white tail, and a yellow bill
that is black near the tip. Both the male and female have orange
legs and feet and are easily distinguished from other ducks by their
large, wide, spoon-shaped bill.
The Northern
Shoveler can be found in shallow marshes, ponds, and wetlands where
it eats a variety of small invertebrates and occasionally seeds.
During the breeding season, it is dependent on open grasslands near
shallow bodies of water. Prairie potholes provide this duck with an
ideal habitat for nesting. The Northern Shoveler ranges from Alaska
to California, Nebraska, and Wisconsin in the breeding season. Some
local breeding populations can also be found in New York. It
winters along the east coast from New Jersey southward, the west
coast from Oregon southward, and throughout the southern portion of
the United States. The Northern Shoveler also migrates as far south
as Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
Photo: M. Noonan
This waterfowl is a dabbling duck that ingests small
invertebrates by straining them through their highly adaptive bills
that is unique among dabbling ducks. Because of this adaptation they
are not routinely seen inverting their bodies like many other
dabbling ducks. The duck
primarily moves by swimming or flying, but it is also an agile
walker. The Northern Shoveler male is territorial during the
breeding season where it can spend up to ninety percent of its time
defending its area. The predators of the duck and its nest include
the Red Fox, Mink, and American Crow.
The Northern Shoveler is
mostly a monogamous species with pairs forming late in the season on
the wintering grounds. However, if there is an opportunity,
the male will mate with a second female. The nest is a scrape
in the ground about two centimeters deep. The hole is filled
with down and other vegetation. The female will lay 9-12 pale olive
buff to green-gray eggs. The female incubates the eggs for
22-25 days and are precocial when they hatch. This means that they
have down, are mobile and follow their parents. Only the
female provides parental care to the chicks. Chicks fledge 6 weeks
after hatching.
The Northern
Shoveler can be found in WNY during their migration in the spring
and fall. Northern Shoveler migration usually peaks around April in
the spring and September in the fall. During these times, look for
the Northern Shoveler in marshes and wetlands. Iroquois National
Wildlife Refuge and the Batavia Wastewater Plant are great places to search for these fascinating
birds.
Photo: M. Noonan
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