Australasian Shoveler (Spatula) [XC152947]
by id from Kinleith, South Waikato District, Waikato, New Zealand (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Throughout the year but mainly August - December.
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Nest
A depression in the ground, lined with grass, placed under the shelter of a tussock of grass or clump of low vegetation, sometimes in the open, but usually not far from water.
Eggs (Guide)
9 - 11; cream with pale green tinge; oval; 54 x 38 mm. Incubation: about 24 days; by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in about 8 - 10 weeks.
Subspecies
Considered by some to form superspecies with Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
rhynchotis (Latham, 1801) - South-western and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania.
variegata (Gould, 1856) - New Zealand.
Similar Species
Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus) which has zebra-like stripes and a black eye-patch and female with female Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) which has some white towards the outer edges of the tail and orange along the lower mandible.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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