Family: Anatidae, Ducks and Geese view all from this family

Description 17-20" (43-51 cm). Large shovel-shaped bill. Male has green head, white body, and chestnut flanks. Female streaked brown with pale blue shoulder patches; similar to female Blue-winged Teal, but bill much larger.

Habitat Marshes and prairie potholes. Sometimes on salt or brackish marshes.

Nesting 8-12 pale buff or greenish eggs in a down-lined cup of grass concealed in vegetation, often some distance from water.

Range Breeds from Alaska and northern Manitoba south to California, Nebraska, and Wisconsin; local and uncommon in Great Lakes area and Northeast. Winters from Oregon across southern half of United States to Gulf Coast and north to New Jersey, south to Central America. Also in Eurasia.

Voice   Low croak, cluck, or quack.

Discussion The Northern Shoveler, related to the Blue-winged and Cinnamon teal, favors broad, shallow marshes where it can use the comb-like teeth along the edges of its large bill to strain aquatic animals, plants, and seeds from the water. Like the two teal, male shovelers wear eclipse plumage until February, much later than ducks whose courtship begins in the fall. Though less numerous than in ancient times, the Northern Shoveler and other marsh ducks have lately become relatively abundant because game departments and private organizations in Canada, the United States, and Mexico have purchased wetland habitat to ensure their survival.