Species

Northern shoveler

Spatula clypeata

A duck with an oversized, spoon-shaped bill that sieves tiny food from the water like a whale.

Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

Adaptation

At a glance

Size: About 44 to 51 cm long
Weight: About 400 to 800 g
Habitat: Shallow ponds, marshes, sewage lagoons and coastal impoundments
Diet: Tiny crustaceans, seeds, insects and plankton filtered from the water
In Georgia: A fairly common winter visitor, October to April
Voice: Males give a hollow "took-took"; females quack
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: A long, broad, spatula-shaped bill in both sexes
Male: Green head; white breast; chestnut sides; yellow eye
Female: Mottled brown with an orange-edged bill
Told apart from: Mallard, which has a normal-sized bill and no chestnut sides
Told apart from: Blue-winged teal, which shares the blue wing patch but is smaller with a small bill
Where to look: Groups swimming slowly with bills in the water, often in tight circles

Behaviour

Shovelers feed by sweeping their bills through the water, straining out tiny animals with comb-like edges along the bill. Groups often swim in tight circles together, stirring up food from below.

Why they matter

The shoveler's bill carries a fine fringe of plates called lamellae that sieves food much as a baleen whale does, letting it live on animals most ducks cannot use. Because it feeds on small invertebrates, it does well in wetlands rich in them — including managed impoundments and treatment ponds — and it helps keep those populations in check.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A grass-lined scrape in short grass near water
Eggs — Usually 8 to 12
Incubation — About 22 to 25 days
Ducklings — Leave the nest within a day; the female guards them
Flight — At about six to seven weeks
Lifespan — Usually a few years

Living around people

Shovelers use sewage lagoons and stormwater ponds, where tiny invertebrates are plentiful.
Their filter-feeding makes them vulnerable to pollutants concentrated in shallow water.

Misconceptions

The big bill is a deformity. It is the shoveler's normal bill and the tool its whole way of feeding depends on.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering	Wintering; pairs forming	Migrating north	Last birds leaving	Nesting on the northern prairies	Ducklings hatching	Adults moulting	Young flying	Migration begins	First arrivals in Georgia	Wintering flocks build	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 95 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

United States

Canada

If you found one

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