The northern shoveler is a medium-sized dabbling duck. It is 17.3-20.1 inches (44-51 cm) in length with a wingspan of 27.2-33.1 inches (69-84 cm).
Its most unique feature is its large shovel-shaped bill. During the breeding season, male shovelers have shiny green heads, a white body, rusty-red undersides, and black wings. In the non-breeding season, their color is a little duller, and their head and breast are brown. Male shovelers have yellow eyes and a black bill.
Female northern shovelers have mottled brown, black, and white feathers and a blue patch on their wings. Their eyes are brown, and their bill is a brownish green.
The northern shoveler is found in marshes and prairie potholes. It needs habitats with shallow water with muddy bottoms.
The northern shoveler is a filter feeder. It skims its bill just above the bottom of a pond or lake and sucks water into the front of its bill. It then uses the comb-like teeth or lamellae on its bill to strain out plants and aquatic animals. It squirts the excess water out of the sides of its bill.
The female northern shoveler lays 8-12 eggs in a nest made of grass and leaves and lined with down and feathers. The nest is built on the ground under a bush or in tall vegetation.
The female incubates the eggs. They hatch in about three weeks. Soon after hatching, the female leads her ducklings to the water and teaches them how to catch insects and find plants to eat. The ducklings fledge in 40 to 70 days.
The northern shoveler has a lifespan of 5-10 years in the wild.
During the heat of the day, the shoveler often rests on the mud next to the water.
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The northern shoveler does not breed in New Hampshire, but it can be seen in the state during its migration in the spring and the fall.
The northern shoveler breeds from Alaska east to northern Manitoba, Canada, and south to California and the Great Lakes region.
It winters from Oregon south to California and east across the southern United States and up the east coast to New Jersey.
It also winters in Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean.
It is also found in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
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