Northern shoveler

Scientific name: Spatula clypeata

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Males display iridescent green heads, white breasts, and chestnut flanks with a distinctive oversized, spatulate bill. Females are mottled brown with the same characteristic shovel-shaped bill, noticeably smaller and duller than males.

Size and weight

Males: 480–570 g, females: 340–420 g; body length 18–20 cm overall.

Habitat

Northern shovelers inhabit shallow freshwater marshes, prairie ponds, and wetlands with emergent vegetation and open water. They prefer areas with muddy substrates and abundant aquatic plants.

Distribution

Widespread across the Northern Hemisphere; in North America, breed across prairie and boreal wetlands from Alaska to the Great Lakes, wintering in southern US, Mexico, and Central America.

Diet

Northern shovelers feed on aquatic invertebrates, seeds, and plant matter by dabbling and filtering in shallow water, with emphasis on aquatic insect larvae and crustaceans during breeding season.

Behaviour

Highly dabbling and surface-feeding ducks, most active at dawn and dusk. They are social and highly mobile, often in small flocks; males and females pair early but remain together only through incubation onset.

Hunting tips

Look for shallow muddy margins and the characteristic dabbling impression around pond edges. Approach into wind through cattails or rushes; shovelers flush readily but often circle back to the same water. Decoys work effectively in open shallows; they respond well to pintail and mallard calls.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 14 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.