THE SHOVELLER 
By T. GILBERT PEARSON 
The National Association of Audubon Societies 
Educational Leaflet No. 84 
The most characteristic feature of the Shoveller is its great bill, 
which measures about two and a half inches long and nearly one and 
a quarter inches in width. Spoon-bill is the name by which this duck 
is known to many gunners ; other names are Swabble-bill, Shovel-bill, 
and Cow-frog. Despite its large bill, which seems entirely out of all 
proportion to the size of the bird, the male Shoveller is a particularly 
beautiful Duck, and because of its striking green head 
and reddish belly it is sometimes mistaken for a male Plumage 
Mallard. The female, although she has an equally 
large bill, is not adorned with the bright plumage of her mate — in 
fact, it is a common characteristic among water-fowl that the female 
wears a more somber plumage than does the drake. 
Throughout the eastern and central United States Shovellers are 
rarely seen in summer. They begin to arrive from the North upon the 
approach of cold weather, usually among the first Ducks to appear, and 
frequently are found in company with Teals or Pintails. To see them 
one should go to such fresh-water or brackish-water marshes as are 
common along the Atlantic Coast from Maryland southward. In the 
lower Mississippi Valley Shovellers are very plentiful, and they occur 
also in large numbers at many places on the Pacific Coast. Some indi- 
viduals go as far south as Central America. 
The student does not progress far in the study of wild-fowl before 
he discovers that the family Anatidce is divided into five sub-families, 
one of which is known as “River and Pond Ducks.” To this group 
belong the Mallard, Black Duck, Pintail, Gadwall, Widgeon, Shoveller, 
and our three American Teals. They are grouped 
together under this title because of their habit of ^Toucks* 
feeding in the shallow backwaters of rivers, ponds, 
and lakes, and in marshes. The “Bay and Sea Ducks,” which constitute 
another sub-family, are usually found in deep water, and frequently dive 
many yards for their food. 
If you slip up to a Shoveller while he is getting his breakfast, you 
will find him dabbling in water usually but a few inches deep. Here he 
will skim the surface, catching such insects and larvse as may happen 
to be floating by ; and from the mud he will collect seeds, and such 
edible animal-matter as crustaceans and small mollusks. Sometimes 
the bird will “tip up” while feeding. In this way it can reach down- 
