Northern shoveler
Northern shoveler Temporal range:
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Male | |
Female | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Genus: | Spatula |
Species: | S. clypeata
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Binomial name | |
Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Range distribution of northern shoveler Breeding Resident Passage Non-breeding Vagrant (seasonality uncertain) Extant & Introduced (seasonality uncertain)
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European distribution. Breeding Resident Non-breeding
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Synonyms | |
Anas clypeata Linnaeus, 1758 |
The northern shoveler (
The northern shoveler is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (
Taxonomy
The northern shoveler was first
No living
Description
This species is unmistakable in the northern hemisphere due to its large spatulate bill. The breeding drake has an iridescent dark green head,[14] white breast and chestnut belly and flanks. In flight, pale blue forewing feathers are revealed, separated from the green speculum by a white border. In early fall the male will have a white crescent on each side of the face.[5] In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake resembles the female.
The female is a drab mottled brown like other dabblers,[14] with plumage much like a female mallard, but easily distinguished by the long broad bill, which is gray tinged with orange on cutting edge and lower mandible.[5] The female's forewing is gray.
They are 48 cm (19 in) long and have a wingspan of 76 cm (30 in) with a weight of 600 g (1.3 lb).[4]
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In flight Northern shoveler Male in Chilika Lake.
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Male northern shoveler in Butte County, California.
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Female stretching after bathing in Kolkata.
Behavior
Northern shovelers feed by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side and using the bill to strain food from the water. They use their highly specialized bill (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates. Their wide-flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water's surface. This adaptation, more specialized in shovelers, gives them an advantage over other puddle ducks, with which they do not have to compete for food resources during most of the year. Thus, mud-bottomed marshes rich in invertebrate life are their habitat of choice.[14]
The shoveler prefers to nest in grassy areas away from open water. Their nest is a shallow depression on the ground, lined with plant material and down. Hens typically lay about nine eggs. The drakes are very territorial during breeding season and will defend their territory and partners from competing males. Drakes also engage in elaborate courtship behaviors, both on the water and in the air; it is not uncommon for a dozen or more males to pursue a single hen. Despite their stout appearance, shovelers are nimble fliers.[14]
This is a fairly quiet species. The male has a clunking call, whereas the female has a Mallard-like quack.
Habitat and range
This is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some
This bird winters in southern
It is strongly migratory and winters further south than its breeding range. It has occasionally been reported as a vagrant as far south as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.[17] It is not as gregarious as some dabbling ducks outside the breeding season and tends to form only small flocks. Among North America's duck species, northern shovelers trail only mallards and blue-winged teal in overall abundance. Their populations have been healthy since the 1960s, and have soared in recent years to more than 5 million birds (2015), most likely because of favorable breeding, migration, and wintering habitat conditions.[14]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "The British List" (PDF). British Ornithologist's Union. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ a b Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- ^ a b c Floyd, T. (2008). Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America. NY: Harper Collins.
- ^ a b c d Dunn, J.; Alderfer, J. (2006). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (5th ed.).
- ^ "Anas clypeata". Agreement on the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). AEWA. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1 (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 124.
- .
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ Boie, Friedrich (1822). "Generalübersicht". Isis von Oken (in German). 1822. Col 564.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 460.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- .
- ^ a b c d e "Northern Shoveler". Ducks Unlimited.
- ^ Birds of Eden - Northern Shoveler Retrieved March 2, 2017
- Japan TimesRetrieved March 2, 2017
- ^ BirdLife species factsheet for Spatula clypeata
External links
- Shoveler at RSPB Birds by Name
- Northern Shoveler Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Northern Shoveler Species Account at Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas
- "Northern shoveler media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Northern Shoveler on the Birds of India
- Northern shoveler photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)