Northern Shoveler (female)

Description:

Females are mottled brown with orange legs and distinguished by the spatulate bill.

Habitat:

Spotted at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Northern Shovelers inhabit shallow, marshy ponds and wetlands at low elevations. Breeding habitat is in open country (prairie or tundra), or lowland woodlands and clearings, always near shallow water. During winter and migration they will use virtually any wetland as long as it has muddy edges. Shovelers will forage in sewage ponds and stagnant or polluted waters avoided by other species of ducks.