Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

Thisduck,withitsproportionallylargebeak,is foundmainly in eastern England;

Charles Smith-Jones focuses on this agile opponent

IN THE FIELD

Quarry Guide

Shoveler Duck

Anas clypeata

winterthesenumbersareboostedtoaround

18,000individualbirdswhenmigrantsarrive

fromIceland,northernEuropeandeven

asfaroffasRussia.Worldwidethereare

probably well in excess of fi ve million.

Franticandcurious

Thebreedingseasonisa frantictimewith

thedrakescompetingfiercelyforbreeding

rights,performingelaboratecourtship

displaysbothonthewaterandintheair,

oftenwitha largenumberofmalespursuing

a singlefemale.Oncepairedoff,though,the

shovelerisconsideredtobemorefaithfulto

itspartnerthansomeoftheotherdabbling

ducksandpairsdoseemtoremaintogether

for longer. A curious habit that the duck is

34 SPORTING GUN M AY 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

Therearelessthan

1,000breedingpairs

of shovelers in Britain

ALAMY

A shoveler drake displaying to attract a mate in springtime

T

here’snomistakingtheshovelerwith

itsuniquelybroad,spade-shaped

bill.Onthewaterit holdsitsheadas

thoughit is somethingofa burden,

andeveninflightit looksa bittop-heavyand

deceptivelyclumsy.Manyhavebeenmissed

behindbyinexperiencedwildfowlerswhohave

mistakenlythoughtthisunusualducka bit

slow,ungainlyandsomethingofaneasyshot.

It is mostcertainlynot,however,beingfast,

agileandcapableoftwisting and turning very

quicklyonceintheair.

Thewideandflattenedbillthatgivesthe

shoveleritsnamemeasuresa sizeable70mmin

lengthandis some37mmacrossthetip;it ’sbeen

described as a ‘beak with a duck attached to it ’.

Uniquefeature

Thebillisa highlyspecialisedadaptation

thatbothsexeshaveandthattheyuseto

sievethewaterforfoodmatter.Theycan

oftenbeseensweepingtheirheadsfrom

sidetoside;small,comb-likestructures

withinthebeakcalledlamellaeactasfilters

thatallowthebirdtoskimplankton,small

invertebratesandotherfoodmaterialfrom

thesurfaceofthewater.Watersnotrich

insuchfoodsarenotfavouredandforthis

reasonshovelersareconsidereddifficultto

keepincaptivity,soarenotoftenseenin

zoosoraspartofothercollections.

Unlikemanyotherducks,shovelers

seldom‘upend’toreachdeeperintothe

waterforfood.Theiradaptationalsomeans

thattheyhavetocompetelesswithother

species.Thebillgivestheshovelerits

scientifi c name, which is taken from the Latin

clypeata,meaning‘shieldbearing’.It ’soften

calleda spoonbillor‘spoonie’inAmerica.

RegionalnamesinBritaininclude‘beck ’or

‘scopperbill’inNorfolkand‘kirk ’,‘tullock ’,

‘kertlutock ’or‘blue-wingedstint ’elsewhere.

A shybird,it preferstokeepwell

awayfromtheshoreandoftenseems

uncomfortableandnervouswhentooclose

in.Althoughyoumayoccasionallyseelarge

groups,it ismorecommontoencounter

theminpairsorsmallerpartiesofhalfa

dozenorso.Mostareseeninthesouthand

eastofEnglandbetweentheThamesestuary

andTheWash,althoughtherearesmaller

andmorelocalisedpopulationselsewhere.

TheBritishsummerbreedingpopulationis

estimated to be well below 1,000 pairs, but in