Red Shoveler Spatula platalea Scientific name definitions

The Red Shoveler is a medium-sized duck of southern South America. Populations in the southern part of its range are short-distance migrants, while more northerly populations are residents. The bill is slightly longer than the head and spatulate, giving the species its common name. More often found in brackish waters than other dabbling ducks, the Red Shoveler is a denizen of large coastal lagoons, lakes, and estuaries. Like other dabbling ducks, it feeds from the surface of the water by head-dipping and upending, rarely making shallow dives in search of algae or plankton. The Red Shoveler is fairly common in the proper habitat, and sometimes gathers in huge groups of 10,000 individuals or more.

45–56 cm; c. 467–686 g (1 Villegas Vallejos, M.A., Molin, T., Vieira-da-Rocha, M.C., Deconto, L.R., Floriano-Cunha, R., Moura Sobânia, R.L. and Scherer-Neto, P. (2009). Registro documentado da marreca-colhereira Anas platalea (Anseriformes: Anatidae) no Estado do Paraná. Atualidades Orn.. 151: 20-21. Close , 2 Salvador, S. A., and A. G. Di Giacomo (2014). Datos de pesos de aves argentinas. Parte 3. Historia Natural 4(2):63–88. Close ). Breeding male has pale buff head  stippled black over head  , especially crown , with near-white chin  and throat, body  rufescent cinnamon with profuse black oval spots, long, black scapulars with white shaft-streaks, lower back, rump and central tail black, with creamy-white edges and white sides to rump, brown outer rectrices and brownish-black primaries with white shaft-streaks. Green speculum  ; pale blue upperwing-coverts  , with white tips; black spatulate bill  , grey to yellow or orange legs and feet, and white to pale yellow irides. Overall tone of male’s plumage can be redder or paler; has no eclipse plumage, but becomes paler and greyer on head, mantle and breast post-breeding (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Female has very large, browner bill , with buff head  and underparts spotted brown, white throat, dark brown back and tail with buff feather fringes; wings like male, but has reduced white bar on coverts and speculum is more blackish than green; legs and feet grey to yellowish, irides dark brown (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Juvenile resembles female, but with brighter speculum in males; belly less distinctively spotted and has greyer upperwing-coverts (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

S South America from Tierra del Fuego N to C Chile, most of Argentina, Bolivia, S Peru, Uruguay and S Brazil.

Large coastal lagoons , lakes and estuaries of fresh or, preferably, brackish waters, especially those with dense zooplankton (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); mostly on low ground but up to 3400 m in Andes (and to 4200 m in Peru) (4 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Partially migratory; southernmost breeding birds disperse northwards to winter as far N as S Peru, Bolivia (5 Lane, D. F. (2014). New and noteworthy records of birds in Bolivia. Cotinga 36:56–67. Close ) and SE Brazil (from Rio Grande do Sul N to Rio de Janeiro) (6 Sick, H. (1997). Ornitologia Brasileira. Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Close ) but other populations mainly sedentary. Records from Rio Grande do Sul dated January, May–Sept and Nov (7 Maurício, G.N. and Dias, R.A. (1996). Novos registros e extensões de distribuição de aves palustres e costeiras no litoral sul do Rio Grande do Sul. Ararajuba. 4(1): 47–51. Close ), with single records in Rio de Janeiro in Sept (8 Pacheco, J.F., Parrini, R., Whitney, B.M., Bauer, C. and da Fonseca, P.S.M. (1997). Novos registros de aves para o Estado do Rio de Janeiro: região sul do vale do Rio Paraíba do Sul. Atualidades Orn. 79: 4–5. Close ) and Paraná in Jul (1 Villegas Vallejos, M.A., Molin, T., Vieira-da-Rocha, M.C., Deconto, L.R., Floriano-Cunha, R., Moura Sobânia, R.L. and Scherer-Neto, P. (2009). Registro documentado da marreca-colhereira Anas platalea (Anseriformes: Anatidae) no Estado do Paraná. Atualidades Orn.. 151: 20-21. Close ). Has occurred in Falkland Is, where ten records involving up to 12 birds noted during breeding seasons of 1985–1992 (9 Woods, R. W., and A. Woods (1997) Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Falkland Islands. Anthony Nelson, Oswestry, UK. Close ), and species has occasionally overwintered (10 Gregory, P. (1994) Notes on new and scarce birds in the Falkland Islands 1988–1990. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 114: 12–20. Close ).

Seeds and other parts of aquatic plants and aquatic invertebrates mainly of planktonic size (e.g. worms, insects, larvae, molluscs and tiny frogs) (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Feeds by filtering water or mud by dabbling, head dipping and upending, presumably also on foot at water’s edge; seldom dives and only for short periods (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Few data for wild birds and only rather quiet calls noted; male gives low rattle or sputtering sound in company of female, as well as hollow “tooka-tooka-tuk-tuk” in courtship, alarm  and in mock-feeding displays, in addition to deeper “tuk tuk” in flight; female gives harsh “quack” when disturbed or rasping “whrrt” or “rrr” when inciting male to copulate (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Starts Sept/Oct; laying dates 15 Sept–30 Oct in C Chile (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ). Fairly gregarious during breeding season, but no information on breeding system (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). In single pairs or loose groups; nests on ground (170 mm in diameter) (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ), constructed of twigs, aquatic plants, dry grass and reeds, in dry areas close to lakes or in swampy vegetation (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), usually within 40 m of water (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ); in C Chile 23 nests were all situated in a scrubby meadow dominated by species such as Anthemis cotula, Brassica nigra, Chenopodium glaucum, Conium maculatum, Distichlis spicata, Frankenia salina and Hordeum murinum, with a few scattered trees (Acacia caven and Prosopis chilensis) (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ). Clutch 5–10 (mean 8·5) (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ) dull white eggs with rose-yellow tint, size 49–64 mm × 37–39 mm, mass 27·5–46·5 g (captivity) (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation c. 25 days (captivity), by female alone (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); chicks  have brown down above  , yellowish cinnamon below, weigh 22·6 g at one day old and 202 g at 21 days (captivity) (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); fledging period unknown, although male sometimes observed with female and brood (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Very few data on breeding success, but brood size of recently hatched young in Chile and Argentina 2–10 (means 5·7 and 7·09) (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ) and in C Chile hatching success was 80 ± 20% (only one of 23 nests did not produce at least one successful chick) and was negatively associated with the number of cattle dung piles and proportion of dry vegetation, but positively explained by herbaceous height and distance to watercourse (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ). Trampling by domestic livestock may be a significant negative factor in hatching success (11 Quilodrán, C.S., Pernollet, C.A., Chávez, M.A. and Estades, C.F. (2013). Nest-site selection and success of Red Shoveler (Anas platalea) in a wetland of central Chile. Waterbirds. 36(1): 102-107. Close ). No further information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Fairly common and widespread, with overall population estimate in early 2000s of 100,000–1,000,000 birds (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Large numbers stage and moult at 700–1200 m on upland plateaux of inland Santa Cruz, Argentina; concentrations of 1000–1500 not rare; up to 4000–5000 on Mar Chiquita Lagoon, Córdoba Province, and an estimated 17,700 on Meseta de Strobel, Santa Cruz Province. Small resident population in highlands of Puno and Cuzco, Peru. Frequent quarry species and may also suffer from contamination of wetlands in areas overstocked with domestic animals (3 Kear, J., Editor (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1: General chapters, and Species accounts (Anhima to Salvadorina). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).