Northern Shoveler

Anas clypeata

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: common
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Cuchara común

Photograph: Daniel Benák, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 49–52 cm
Wingspan: 70–84 cm
Weight: 630 g

Presence in the Strait

Common winter visitor to wetlands (<400).

Identification

Characteristic bill shape and size. In flight, the male is the only duck with a deep chestnut belly and white wings bellow.

Movements

Arrive in August, progressively increasing until winter when numbers start to fall; the last leave in April. Migration peaks at the end of October and February.

Ring recoveries

Holland (7), Latvia (3), Denmark (2), Finland (1), Sweden (1) and United Kingdom (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

18 %

Peak in March. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 13 December 1975
Latest record: 17 January 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: DD · Data deficient · breeding — LC · Least concern · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

15 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Netherlands7
Latvia3
Denmark2
Finland1
Sweden1
United Kingdom1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Eurasian Wigeon45–51 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Mallard51–62 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Gadwall46–56 cm · Presence to be confirmed · overlapping size
Garganey37–41 cm · Migrant
Eurasian Teal34–38 cm · Seasonal

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
GBIF taxon key: 8332393

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Daniel Benák, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Northern Shoveler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery