Australasian ShovelerScientific name: Anas rhynchotis
Meaning of name: Anas is Latin for duck. Rhyncos is Greek for beak.
Aboriginal name: Bardoongooba (bar’doo’noo’bar).
Distribution: Found in Australia and New Zealand. In Western Australia it can be found from Carnarvon in the north to Israelite Bay in the east.
Description: This duck is about 45 – 55cm long with a 70 – 80cm wingspan.
Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 982km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 10 years 6 months after being banded (information as at 14 June 2012).
References: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.
What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978
Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal
Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html
The male Australasian Shoveler, left, has distinctive colouring in the breeding season. The female, right, can easily be mistaken for a Pacific Black Duck.
This photograph was not taken in the reserves of interest to FQPB. Photograph courtesy of B Wykes.
