Bird

Northern Shoveler Facts Spatula clypeata

Bird

Classification

Family: Anatidae. Order: Anseriformes.

Northern Shoveler Conservation Status

Northern Shoveler is listed here as Least Concern. Protecting habitat, maintaining healthy prey or food sources, and reducing human pressure are important parts of conserving wild populations.

Fun facts

As a result, mud-bottomed marshes rich in invertebrates are their habitat of choice.
Their wide, flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the surface of the water.
They use their highly specialised bills (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates.