Fun Australasian Shoveler Facts For Kids

The Australasian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis or Spatula rhynchotis) is a filter-feeding bird species whose distribution occurs in the wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. These brown beautiful dabbling ducks are easily identified due to their flat, shovel-like black bills and black-blue head with chestnut bodies.

This New Zealand shoveler can be seen waddling along the coast or swimming peacefully in lakes or ponds in large groups, often mixing with ducks of other species.

These dabbling ducks are omnivorous in nature, gathering large shovelfuls of riverbed mud into their beaks and letting the impurities filter out through the slits or lamellae, in order to eat the remaining organisms. Due to this identification feature, they are also called the spoonbill duck.

Other names for this species include Kuruwhengi, blue-winged shoveler, Australian shoveler, and the New Zealand shoveler.

Another feature of identification for male birds is their beautiful breeding plumage which features a mottled brown body, blue-gray head, and a vertical white crescent on the base of their bills. The Australasian shoveler female is browner in color and lacks the blue-gray head and white crest.

To learn more about these filter feeders, read on! For more relatable content, check out these green heron facts and American black duck facts for kids.
 

Australasian Shoveler Interesting Facts

What type of animal is an Australasian shoveler?

The Australasian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis) is a type of duck that is native to Australia and New Zealand.

What class of animal does an Australasian shoveler belong to?

The Australasian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis) belongs to the class of Aves and the family Anatidae.

How many Australasian shovelers are there in the world?

Though the exact population of the Australasian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis) bird species is unknown, there are known to be at least 10,000 mature individuals of this species present in the wild.

Where does an Australasian shoveler live?

The Australasian shoveler duck is an aquatic bird that can be found in the heavily vegetated wetlands and coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. In western Australia, the Australasian shoveler range occurs all the way from the south until the North Cape.

What is an Australasian shoveler's habitat?

The Australasian shoveler distribution is mostly observed to occur in wetlands such as large undisturbed freshwater swamps, heavily vegetated ponds, lakes densely populated with reeds, and near the coast. They are also migratory birds.

Who do Australasian shovelers live with?

These dabbling birds are quite social and can often be found swimming in large groups alongside the pink-eared duck.

How long does an Australasian shoveler live?

Australasian shovelers (Anas rhynchotis) of the family Anatidae are aquatic dabbling birds known to live for 20-30 years on average.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season of Australian shoveler birds occurs in July and August during the rainy season, around the time of flooding rains. During the breeding process, the pair builds a nest on the ground in dense vegetation, or in the hollow of a tree that has roots in the water.

After the mating process, females will lay between 5-13 eggs, which will undergo incubation for 24 days by the female. During the incubation period, her mate fiercely guards their territory and protects them.

After hatching, the female raises the brood for about eight weeks until they are ready to become independent. The young ducks become mature enough for breeding at around one to two years of age.

During the breeding season, males have mottled brown bodies with white patches, black backs, and white bars on their bluish-gray shoulders. This breeding plumage molts and males are left with darker, duller feathers.

What is their conservation status?

According to the IUCN Red List, these birds of the Anatidae family are listed as a Least Concern species.

Australasian Shoveler Fun Facts

What do Australasian shovelers look like?

Males and females of these shovelers of the Anatidae family are similar in size, though they have different coloring. Both male and female species have a large, flat shovel-shaped bill, dark sloping head, and orange legs.

Males have mottled brown bodies with white patches during the breeding period, with black backs and white bars on their bluish-gray shoulders. Their blue-gray head with a vertical white crescent looks quite striking. Their underparts are rich chestnut.

Their breeding plumage usually molts after the breeding season is over, revealing paler, duller feathers. They have yellow red-eyes and orange legs.

Blue-winged shoveler females have dark brown upper parts and chestnut breasts and bodies, with their eyes being a dark brown, heavily contrasting to the yellow-red eye of the male shoveler bird.

How cute are they?

With their squat appearance and round heads, these ducks of the Anatidae family are very cute in appearance.

How do they communicate?

These ducks are rarely vocal, though they communicate by making a number of honking noises. Males are known to make a series of chuffing noises and females give out typical quacking calls.

How big is an Australasian shoveler?

New Zealand shovelers usually have a length that is observed to measure in the range of 18.1-20.9 in (46-53 cm), measured from bill to tail. They are two times bigger than radjah shelducks in length and a bit smaller than crested ducks.

How fast can an Australasian shoveler fly?

Blue-winged shoveler birds spend most of their time on the surface of the water, in swamps, or on the ground so they do not fly much. If startled, they are able to fly away from any grounded threat quite quickly, though the exact speed of their flight is unknown.

How much does an Australasian shoveler weigh?

The Australian shoveler duck has an average weight between the range of 9.6-16.9 oz (272-480 g). They are smaller than northern shovelers.

What are the male and female names of the species?

A male duck is called a drake and a female duck is called a hen.

What would you call a baby Australasian shoveler?

Baby Australasian shovelers are known as ducklings or hatchlings.

What do they eat?

These Australian ducks are omnivorous in nature. They will feed on various grasses and weeds present among the reed beds as well as algae.

They are known to upend in the shallow water to scoop up mud from the riverbed into their flat, slotted beaks to filter out impurities and eat the remaining insects, mollusks, and crustaceans. Due to the slotted spoon-like nature of their bills, they are also called spoonbill ducks.

Are they poisonous?

No, these birds are not poisonous at all.

Would they make a good pet?

No, due to the wild nature of this bird and the inability to recreate its wildlife habitat in urban environments, this bird cannot easily be kept as a pet. As this blue-winged bird requires heavily vegetated wetlands and a large flock due to its social nature, it is better to leave it be in its natural habitat.

Did you know...

Their bills have slots on the sides called lamellae which filter out all the unnecessary mud and water collected in their beaks during feeding.

There are two subspecies of this bird, the S. rhynchotis rhynchotis which is the Australasian shoveler, and the S. rhynchotis variegata called the New Zealand shoveler. Both subspecies look the same and the only difference being is the location of their occurrence.

These birds have two scientific names, either being called the Spatula rhynchotis or the Anas rhynchotis.

They are called Kuruwhengi in native Maori.

Males can become quite aggressive during the breeding season, often taking part in courtship flights to vie for the attention of the female duck.

How did Australasian shovelers get their name?

The Australian shoveler bird is named after its flat, spoon-like beak which it uses to 'shovel' mud out of the water. This square-shaped beak has slits on the side which help to filter out all the water and mud from the shovelful, leaving behind only edible weeds and organisms.

Are Australasian shovelers endangered?

These birds are not endangered, however, their wildlife population is declining slowly with an estimated population of between 15-30,000 individual birds. This decline is occurring due to the takeover of wetlands for expanding civilization and water pollution by dumping of industrial waste, leading to habitat loss for these birds.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our reddish egret surprising facts and Australian pelican fun facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Australasian shoveler coloring pages.