Northern Shoveler
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ducks, Swans, and Geese

Northern Shoveler

Spatula clypeata

LCLeast Concern
Family
Ducks, Swans, and Geese (Anatidae)
Order
Anseriformes

Overview

The northern shoveler (; Spatula clypeata), often known simply as the shoveler where other related species do not occur, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and throughout the Palearctic and across most of North America, and winters in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds Holarctic (except Arctic); winters through eastern Africa, southern and southeastern Asia, the Philippines, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.