Northern Shoveler
Spatula clypeata
They often feed in 'shoveler circles,' swimming in a tight pinwheel to create a whirlpool that brings food to the surface.
- Scientific name
- Spatula clypeata
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Anseriformes › Anatidae › Spatula
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Shallow freshwater wetlands, marshes, flooded fields, and ponds with muddy bottoms.
- Diet
- Omnivorous filter-feeder; consumes aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and seeds using specialized lamellae.
- Range
- North America, Europe, Asia, Central America, Africa
- Size
- Length: 44-52 cm; Wingspan: 70-84 cm; Weight: 400-800g.
- Lifespan
- 8-15 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss, wetland drainage, and lead poisoning from ingested shot in sediment.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Observe from a distance of at least 20 meters to avoid flushing the birds. If they stop feeding and watch you, you are too close. They pose no threat to humans.
The northern shoveler (/ˈʃʌvələr/; Spatula clypeata ), or northern shoveller in British English, sometimes known simply as the shoveler , is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Central, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west...
Photo: Daniel Benák, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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