Adult Male:
Summer Plumage: Head and upper neck are iridescent black. Upper breast and shoulders are white. Back is brown, with each feather edged with a lighter color. Rump and uppertail coverts are iridescent green-blue. Tail feathers are brown with white edges. Wing coverts are blue-gray; greater wing coverts are brown. One shoulder feather is blue-gray; other shoulder feathers are iridescent black with white spots in the middle.
Primary flight feathers are dark brown. Speculum is iridescent green with white borders; tertials are iridescent black. Underneath the breast, belly, and flanks are bright tawny-brown, with white feathers near the tail. Undertail coverts are iridescent black.
Winter Plumage: Similar to the female plumage, but the wings are like the summer plumage. Head, back, and uppertail coverts are uniformly black. Eyes are yellow or orange-yellow. Bill is black with an orange-yellow base. Legs are pale orange-red.
Female:
Dorsal surface is dark brown, with each feather edged with pale tawny. Wing coverts are pale gray-brown, edged with tawny; white streaks are visible at the tips of the greater wing coverts. Wing feathers are brown; speculum is indistinct. Ventral surface is pale tawny-brown, with feathers having narrow brown bars, especially on the breast and flanks. Eyes are pale brown. Bill is yellow-brown. Legs are dull orange-yellow.
Juvenile:
Resembles the female, but with paler coloration.
Measurements:
- Wing Length: (Male): 220-262 mm; (Female): 205-238 mm.
- Tail Length: 72-86 mm.
- Tarsus Length: 32-38 mm.
- Bill Length: 56-71 mm.
- Weight: (Male): 0.49-1.10 kg; (Female): 0.47-0.80 kg.
Distribution:
The Northern Shoveler ( Spatula clypeata) is distributed throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It migrates south in winter, reaching as far as Malaysia and the Philippines.
In Vietnam, the Northern Shoveler is rare, occasionally observed in small flocks in the Red River Delta and near Huế.