Northern shoveler - male and female

Although spring boldly declared its presence some weeks ago in Kelowna, BC, where I live, it is just starting to peek through winter's covers here in Leduc, Alberta.  We are staying at a local RV campground that has a small pond at the back.  I saw breeding pairs of numerous ducks - bufflehead, blue-winged teals, mallards, and the ones I photographed above.

The male is immediately recognizable with his cinnamon flank and green head, but it is the duck's bill that really gives it away.  The female, although drab in her appearance, shares the male's bill, and can be readily identified with this common feature.  An interesting fact about these birds is that a bonded pair will stay together for long periods of time, longer than most other ducks.

The bird's bill has scalloped edges that allow it to filter out larger food particles from the bottom muddy areas of ponds.  On the water, they feed with their tails in the air in a behaviour called dabbling.  

They can be found throughout most of North America either overwintering, breeding, or through migration.  They are very comfortable in small ponds, where I found the ones I photographed yesterday, and as such are common throughout the prairies.  They are not often found in salt water though, and so are not common along any of the oceanic coastlines or estuaries.

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