Bird of the Week #8

As migration has finally stopped, I will cover winter species for the next few months. This week's bird is Northern Shoveler!

Northern Shovelers are slightly smaller than a Mallard. Males have green heads, black and gray wings, a white belly, and chestnut sides. Females are mostly tan and brown. The feature that sets them apart from other ducks is their shovel-shaped bill. They use it to stir up water plants and insect larvae by dragging it through the water and spinning around.

Northern Shovelers breed in Canada and the central United States and winter over the southern half of the country as well as along the Eastern Seaboard. These birds can be found in NYC from October through early May. Large flocks of up to a few hundred birds are nearly always at The Lake or The Reservoir.