Saturday, May 11, 2013

Male Northern Shoveler


This is a photo of a male Northern Shoveler.   I guess they are a pretty
common duck and are listed as a dabbler.  They feed by dabbling for
plant food, swinging their bills from side to side and straining the food from the water.
They use their highly specialized bill to forage for aquatic invertebrates -  a carnivorous diet.  They have small, comb-like structures on the edge of their bill that act like sieves.  This allows them to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water's surface.  I love their bills!!  

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