Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Linnaeus       Field Guide IDs: NG-82; G-50; PE-52; PW-pl 14; AE-pl 108; AW-pl 96; AM (I)- 166 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy F I: 22-25 DAYS PRECOCIAL 2 F 9-12 (6-14) MONOG F: 38-66 DAYS F AQUATIC INVERTS BREEDING: Freshwater shallows, esp muddy, sluggish habitats and surrounding marsh veg; also wet, prairie meadows. 1 brood. DISPLAYS: See: Duck Displays. NEST: Usu in short grass on boggy edge of water, occ in field, meadow, or emergent veg. Concealed depression filled with dry grass, other veg. Lined with down as incubation advances. EGGS: EGGS: Olive-buff/greenish-gray. 2.0" (52 mm). DIET: Aquatic veg, esp plankton; snails, clams, aquatic insects. Feeds primarily by straining small plants and animals from water's surface through comblike edge of bill; also feeds along mudflat margins. CONSERVATION: Winters s to n S.A. NOTES: Females incubate more sporadically than other ducks, spend more time foraging. Some males remain paired and stay on territories throughout incubation. Often nests late, esp in n. STANFORD. NOTES: Uncommon to fairly common winter visitor at Lagunita, usually seen foraging in shallows at the edge of the lake. ESSAYS: Metallic Poisons; Dabblers vs. Divers; Commensal Feeding; Incubation Time; Breeding Season; Feathered Nests. REFERENCES: Afton, 1979a, b; Bellrose, 1976; Gooders and Boyer, 1986.