Shoveler

 

The shoveler (Anas cylpeata) is a handsome but uncommon bird, present all year round in most of England and southern Scotland and joined by winter migrants in south-west England, Wales and the Grampian area of Scotland.

The shoveler’s patchy distribution is governed partly by the availability of its habitat, namely marshy areas with pools, ditches and other areas of open water that have muddy shallows rich in food.

The shoveler grows up to 20 inches (50 cm) in length. The adult male has a glossy green head, like that of the mallard, but with a white breast and chestnut belly. The adult female has a brown head and body with speckled underparts. The wings of both sexes display a blue shoulder, white bar and green rear patch.

However, the most distinctive feature of the shoveler is the long, rounded, spade-like bill that gives the bird its name. The bill is used in the typical manner of dabbling ducks, sifting large volumes of water to filter out particles of food. This includes buds and seeds of water plants such as reeds and sedges, as well as algae and small molluscs. They will also eat crustaceans, insects, tadpoles and frogspawn. The inside edges of the bill have many comb-like teeth to trap food as water is forced through them.

The nest is a feather or grass-lined hollow in the ground, often in relatively open country but usually close to water. Between seven and 14 pale greenish eggs are laid in a clutch from April onwards. Incubation, performed by the female, takes between three and four weeks. The ducklings are led away from the nest as soon as all of them have hatched and are dry. They soon show signs of developing outsize bills. They can fly when about six or seven weeks old. Only one brood is reared each year.

© John Welford