Photo and text by Dr. Gary Grantham

Northern Shoveler

(Anas clypeata)

The colorful male Northern Shoveler is distinctive and in the air shows a lot of white on the body.  It is one of the most common ducks that visit the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon during the winter.  It swims with its head low and uses its huge spatula-like bill to strain out food.  Shovelers commonly feed in small groups that mill around in a circle and churn up the mud.  Since their food is strained from near the surface, they seldom have to “tip up”.  An enormous development of the comblike teeth along the sides of the mandibles makes this whalelike manner of feeding possible.