File:Northern Shoveler Seedskadee NWR (15807593402).jpg
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| Description |
Perhaps the most visible diagnostic characteristic of the northern shoveler is its large spoon-shaped bill, which widens towards the tip and creates a shape unique among North American waterfowl. Female northern shovelers have a light brownish head with a blackish crown and a brownish speckled body. The upper wing coverts are grayish-blue, the greater secondary coverts are tipped with white and the secondaries are brown with a slight greenish sheen. Northern shovelers primarily breed in the parklands, short and mixed-grass prairies of Canada, and the grasslands of the north-central United States. They prefer shallow marshes that are mud-bottomed and rich in invertebrate life. Nest sites are generally located on the ground in grassy areas lacking woody cover and away from open water. Female northern shovelers lay an average of 9 eggs. Northern shovelers fly from the Prairie Pothole Region through the Pacific or Central flyways, with major stopover areas in the Great Salt Lake, Malheur Basin and Carson Sink. They winter in California; coastal Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico; and the north and central highlands of Mexico. Wintering habitat includes fresh and brackish coastal marshes, and ponds. Saltwater wetlands are generally avoided. Northern shovelers are common winter visitors to Central America, the Caribbean and northern Colombia, and are found occasionally in Trinidad. Northern shoveler populations have remained fairly steady since 1955, but 2007 and 2009 brought peak numbers in the 4.3-4.6-million-bird range, most likely due to favorable habitat conditions for breeding, migrating and wintering northern shovelers. Northern shovelers feed by dabbling and sifting in shallow water. Seeds of sedges, bulrushes, smartweeds, pondweeds, algae and duckweeds, as well as aquatic insects, mollusks and crustaceans, are consumed by filtering water which is taken in at the bill tip and jetted out at the base.The bill has has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges, for straining food from water. Northern shovelers can be found on Seedskadee NWR during spring and fall migration periods. <a href="http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/northern-shoveler#ad-image-0" rel="nofollow">www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/northern-shoveler#ad-i...</a> Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS |
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| Source | Northern Shoveler Seedskadee NWR |
| Author | USFWS Mountain-Prairie |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by USFWS Mountain Prairie at https://flickr.com/photos/51986662@N05/15807593402 (archive). It was reviewed on 17 May 2018 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |
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This image or recording is the work of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain. For more information, see the Fish and Wildlife Service copyright policy.
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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| current | 04:07, 17 May 2018 | | 2,801 × 1,954 (2.96 MB) | OceanAtoll (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons |
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