A very distinctive bird, the shoveler displays the ultimate in dabbling equipment - a very broad spatulate bill which gives an immediate clue to the species' feeding habits. The drake in breeding dress has a bottle-green head, white neck and chest, dark chestnut flanks and underparts and dark brownish-grey wing coverts. The colouring of the female is similar to that of other dabbling duck but the shovel bill makes misidentification unlikely. Both sexes have a green speculum and display a blue-grey patch on the forewing. The shoveler has a rapid flight with a rattling sound from the wings. It is medium size and the light blue shoulders are prominent in flight. The large spatulate bill often looks longer than the head and it rarely quacks while flying.

I am grateful to Eric Begbie who allowed us to use this information which is reprinted from 'Fowler in the Wild'.