Northern Shovelers

The Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata), one of the more recognizable species due to its elongated shoehorn shaped bill. This bill is the largest of any duck in North America. The males have a black head that is iridescent green when in the sunshine, yellow eyes, white chest, and rusty chestnut brown sides and belly. The back and rump are black with white streaking. The female is much more drab with mottled grayish brown feathers and the same shoehorn shaped bill.

The shoveler’s bill is about 2.5 inches long and has 11 fine projections (lamellae) that it uses to strain small swimming invertebrates, small crustaceans, aquatic insects, and plants from shallow water. Their diet is varied and also includes seeds of sedges, bulrushes, saw grass, smartweeds, pondweeds, algae and duckweeds. Northern shovelers swim along with their long bills in the water rather than tipping up like other dabbling ducks. Water is taken in at the wide tip of the bill and jetted out at the base. They prefer shallow marshes that are mud-bottomed and rich in invertebrates.

Northern Shovelers spend their summers from Alaska through Canada to the mountains of Colorado and northern New Mexico. They are monogamous. Nests are located on the ground in grassy areas away from open water. The nest is a shallow depression constructed of grass and weeds and lined with down. The average clutch is nine eggs. The ducklings leave the nest within hours of hatching and immediately begin to forage remaining close to the female. The ducklings fledge between 52 and 66 days after hatching. Each pair raises one brood per year. While breeding, they are found in pairs or alone. In winter, they group together in larger flocks mixing with other waterfowl species.