A common and widespread dabbling duck, Anas clypeata, which breeds in the northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America. They feed on the surface using their huge spatulate bills
{i} one who shovels, one who digs or moves material with a shovel; freshwater duck with a long broad bill that lives in the northern hemisphere, broadbill
Any of four species (genus Anas, family Anatidae) of dabbling ducks having a long, spoon-shaped bill. The migratory northern shoveler (A. clypeata) inhabits shallow marshes and lagoons in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The male has a green head, white breast, chestnut belly and sides, and a blue patch on the forewing. It uses its bill to sift small organisms and seeds from the mud; in deeper waters, it skims the surface for plankton. The other species are the South American red shoveler (A. platalea); the Cape, or Smith's, shoveler (A. smithii) of South Africa; and the Australasian, or blue-winged, shoveler (A. rhynchotis)