RED SHOVELLER 



SPATULA PLAT ALE A (Vieillot) 

 (Plate 48) 

 Synonymy 

 Anas platalea Vieillot, Nouv. Diet, des Sci. Nat., vol. 5, p. 157, 1816. 

 Spatula platalea Boie, Oken's Isis, 1826, p. 980. 



Rhynchaspis maculatus Jardine and Selby, Illustr. of Ornith., vol. 3, pi. 147, 1835. 

 Rhynchaspis maculata Hartlaub, Verzeichniss nat.-hist. Sammlung Ges. Mus., p. 120, 



1844. 

 Spatula rhynchotis G. R. Gray (in part), List Birds British Mus., vol. 3, p. 140, 1844. 

 Dafila coesioscapula Reichenbach, Synopsis Avium, Natatores, pi. 51, fig. 180, 1845. 

 Dafila cwsioscapulata Bibra, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 5, p. 131, 1853. 

 Rhynchaspis mexicana Lichtenstein (nee Gmelin), Nomenclator Avium, p. 102, 



1854. 

 Rhynchaspis platalea Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 43, p. 650, 



1856. 

 Spatula maculatus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1856, p. 95. 



Vernacular Names 

 English: Red Shoveller, South American Shoveller. 

 German: Siidamerikanische Lbffelente. 



Spanish: Pato espatula, Pato cuchara, Pato de cangrajal, Pato silvestre, Pico de 

 enchara. 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male : Head pinkish buff with fine blackish spots, except the chin, which is white and nearly 

 immaculate, and the mid-occipital region, which is darker. Mantle and scapulars reddish with many- 

 oval black markings; the long scapulars highly ornamental, metallic black with light central shaft- 

 stripes. Back and rump nearly black and without the pattern of the rest of the upper surface. 

 Upper tail-coverts black; tail brownish gray, with light edges to the feathers. Breast and abdomen 

 rich chestnut to blackish chestnut, always darker posteriorly, and the whole lower surface spotted 

 with black. Under tail-coverts black. Sides of rump with a conspicuous white patch as in the Com- 

 mon Shoveller. Wing almost as in the Common Shoveller. In some specimens, apparently old males 

 in very rich plumage, the black spots on the lower abdomen can scarcely be made out and there is 

 always a good deal of variation in the intensity of the color on the lower surface. 



Iris whitish to white in the breeding season and said to be hazel-brown at other times. Bill black, 

 or black shaded with dark green. Legs and feet yellow to orange-yellow. 



Wing 210-222 mm.; bill 66; tarsus 49. 



Note: There is no eclipse plumage. 



