Australasian Shoveler (Spatula) [XC152947]
by id from Kinleith, South Waikato District, Waikato, New Zealand (call)
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.
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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BirdLife International Species Factsheet