Spatula clypeata
Silhouette: Andreas Trepte (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata), often known simply as the shoveler where other related species do not occur, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and throughout the Palearctic and across most of North America, and winters in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon.
The northern shoveler is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The conservation status of this bird is least concern. The northern shoveler was first formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. He introduced the binomial name Anas clypeata. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as defined at the time, was not monophyletic. The genus was subsequently split into four monophyletic... Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Shoveler sighting in Glacier National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 163rd most-seen of the 174 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Shoveler in Glacier National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Shoveler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
65th of 69
Of the 69 parks where we can rate Northern Shoveler sightings, Glacier National Park ranks 65th at under 5%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 60%), Doñana National Park (Spain, about 50%) and Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Shoveler is recorded against all the birds logged in Glacier National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
