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Northern Shoveler | Spatula clypeata
Slobeend | Cuchara común | Pato-colhereiro
The Northern Shoveler breeds across the whole northern hemisphere and has a long bill, strongly broadened at the tip, with which it filters food from the water. A small proportion of North American birds winter as far as northern South America. In the guide area it is a scarce winter visitor, mainly in Colombia.
Voice
Mostly silent in winter. The male gives a dull, repeated took-took, the female a low, nasal quack.
Recording: David Darrell-Lambert — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
44–51 cm, a medium-sized duck with a large, spatulate bill that makes the head look front-heavy. The male in breeding plumage has a dark green head, a yellow iris, a white breast, chestnut flanks and belly and a black bill. The female is mottled brown, with a greyish-brown bill with orange edges. In flight both sexes show pale blue forewings and a green speculum. Males arriving in autumn are often still in eclipse plumage and then resemble the female.
Confusion species
Red Shoveler Spatula platalea has an equally large bill, but the male is cinnamon-red with black spots and a pale head; the female is darker, with a longer, pointed tail and an entirely dark bill. Females of Blue-winged Teal Spatula discors and Cinnamon Teal Spatula cyanoptera are smaller, with a much smaller bill.
Habitat
Shallow, nutrient-rich fresh and brackish lakes, marshes, lagoons and sewage ponds, in the lowlands and on Andean lakes to about 3000 m. It swims with its bill sweeping the surface water, filtering plankton, small crustaceans and seeds. It does not breed in the guide area.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia a scarce winter visitor, mainly in the Caribbean lowlands and on lakes of the Eastern Andes. In Ecuador rare. In Peru and Bolivia a very rare visitor. Absent from the Galápagos. It breeds in North America, Europe and Asia and winters south to Central America, northern South America, Africa and southern Asia.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From November to March among flocks of Blue-winged Teal on shallow lakes in northern Colombia; note the large bill and the front end riding low on the water.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The world population is large; the loss of wetlands is a local threat.
Scientific name
Spatula clypeata | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Anas clypeata; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Spatula was introduced in 1822 by Boie. The genus name is Latin spatula, 'spoon, spatula', after the broad bill. The species name clypeata is Latin for 'furnished with a shield', from clypeus, 'round shield', after the broad bill. The specimen the first description was based on came from Southern Sweden.