OzAnimals.com
Australian Wildlife

  Australasian Shoveler (Anas rhynchotis)





Australasian Shoveler | Anas rhynchotis photo
Anas rhynchotis variegata, Australasian Shoveler, New Zealand subspecies.

Image by Michael Hamilton - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







BIRD FACTS

Description
The Australasian Shoveler is a dabbling duck related to the Mallard and Pacific black duck. It has a long grey blue bill. The male has a grey head and neck, with vertical white stripe running down the face between the eye and the bill It has a brown back, and brown and chestnut underside, with white patch near the rear. The female is mottled brown and buff, with paler head and chest.

Size
46cm - 53cm

Habitat
wetlands, freshwater swamps

Food
feds on insects, crustaceans, plants

Breeding
Lays around 10 whitish eggs. The nest is a grass cup with down lining and is located amongst long grass or other dense vegetation. It sometimes nests in a tree hollow by or in the water.

Range
The Australasian Shoveler is nomadic and ranges across south east quarter of Australia from central Queensland coast, most of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and eastern south Australia. Also found in south west parts of Western Australia.

distribution map showing range of Anas rhynchotis in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anas
Species:rhynchotis
Common Name:Australasian Shoveler

Relatives in same Genus
  Northern Pintail (A. acuta)
  Chestnut Teal (A. castanea)
  Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata)
  Grey Teal (A. gracilis)
  Mallard (A. platyrhynchos)
  Garganey (A. querquedula)
  Pacific Black Duck (A. superciliosa)