Bills IV

Get a load of the schnoze on this Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). This is one of the dabbling duck species, straining tiny crustaceans, plankton, and seeds from the surface of the water. These long bills have comb-like filters on them. This is a male, but not yet in full breeding plumage, which, like the large bill, is quite distinctive. They will be on Prospect Lake all winter if the water isn’t frozen.Shovelers will often cluster together in scrums and spin about with their bills in the water, stirring up the pot, as it were.