- Spatula rhynchotis
Identification
46-56cm
- Long, spatulate bill
Male
- Blue-grey head, with a vertical white crescent
- Chestnut sides
- Blue forewing
- White underwing shows in flight
Female
- Overall rufous-brown plumage, with darker streaks on upperparts
- Buffish feather edges
Distribution
Australasia: found in south-western and south-eastern Australia; Tasmania, and New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Formerly placed in the genus Anas.
Habitat
A wide variety of wetlands; prefers large permanent lakes or swamp that have abundant shrubbery cover of melaleuca and cumbungi.
Only an infrequent user of mangrove swamps, floodwaters, sewage farms.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes a wide variety of vegetable matter: herbs, grasses, pondweeds, wigeon grass, eelgrass, and algae.
Breeding
Seven or eight eggs are laid and incubated for 25-26 days; the young fledge after 40-45 days.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Eclipse
Photo © by the late Rookery
Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand, November 2008
Sub Adult or Non breeding Male
Photo © by aussietrev
Queensland, Australia, June 2009
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Animal Bytes
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Australasian Shoveler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Australasian_Shoveler
