Waterfowl 1 – Northern Shovelers
Male Northern Shoveler
By: Pat Coate
This has been a very good spring for waterfowl. There has been good quality and quantity locally as well as in birding spots near Buffalo and Rochester. The pictures shown here were taken at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.
The Northern Shoveler is easy to identify due to its large, spoon-shaped bill. Its bill has over 100 small, comb-like structures that are used as a sieve to filter small invertebrates from the water. Marshes are its preferred habitat.
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 