Australasian Shoveler.
Photo: N Lazarus © N Lazarus
Distribution map of Anas rhynchotis
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Australasian Shoveler
Scientific name: Anas rhynchotis
Family: Anatidae
Order: Anseriformes
- Featured Bird Groups
- Water birds
What does it look like?
Description
The Australasian Shoveler is a low-floating, dark headed duck, with a low sloping forehead blending to a heavy, square-cut, shovel-tipped bill. The male in breeding plumage has a deep grey-blue head with a vertical white crescent between the bright-yellow eye and the bill The back and rump are black, and the shoulder and wing coverts are blue-grey with several white bars. The underparts are chestnut, with white patches to the rear of the flanks. Outside the breeding season, the males are much duller. Females have mottled brown upperparts, chestnut underparts, and a dark brown eye. This species is also known as Spoonbill Duck, Shovelbill, Blue-winged Shoveler and Stinker.
Similar species
The breeding plumage of the Australasian Shoveler is similar to the Chestnut Teal, A. castanea, though this is a much smaller bird, with a green, rather than blue, head and a less massive bill. When dabbling, (feeding with head under the water) the Shoveler's orange legs are distinctive.
Where does it live?
Distribution
In Western Australia the Australasian Shoveler can be found from the south up to the North West Cape. In eastern Australia it can be found from as far south as Tasmania to Cairns in the north. It is also found in New Zealand.
Habitat
The Australasian Shoveler is found in all kinds of wetlands, preferring large undisturbed heavily vegetated freshwater swamps. It is also found on open waters and occasionally along the coast.
Seasonal movements
In Australia these ducks are dispersive, but little is known about their movements. In New Zealand they are highly mobile.
What does it do?
Feeding
The Australasian Shoveler is a filter feeder, using special lamellae (grooves) along the edges of the bill to filter insects, crustaceans and a variety of plants from the water. This specialised bill limits the Shoveler's foraging range to aquatic habitats on open water or soft mud in fertile wetlands.Breeding
The Australasian Shoveler breeds at almost any time in the arid parts of the continent, synchronised with flooding rains. Nests are built on the ground in dense vegetation, sometimes on a stump or hollow of a tree that is standing in water. The female alone incubates the eggs and broods the young.
Living with us
Living with humans
Changes to the natural flow and floods of rivers may interrupt breeding of the Australasian Shoveler.References
Marchant, S. and Higgins, P.J. (eds.), 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 1. Part B. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
Simpson, K and Day, N. 1999. Field guide to the birds of Australia, 6th Edition. Penguin Books, Australia.
Morecombe M. 1986 The Great Australian Birdfinder. Lansdowne, Australia.