Description:

A rather large long-bodied duck with an exceptionally long spatulate bill and bluish forewing. Male has dark green head, white breast, chestnut flanks, and blue forewing. Female recalls female Mallard in plumage, but has greyish-blue forewing and lacks prominent white trailing edge. Eclipse male recalls female.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant through major waterways and lakes all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Landing in the region during cloudy/harsh weather, at lakes, marshes, rivers and streams with fringe vegetation up to 4500m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Feeding in groups, stirring up water surface by swimming in tight rotating circles. Feeds by dabbling and water filtering from surface (sweeping head side to side), head dipping and upending; also dives in shallow waters. Varied diet, mostly small-sized aquatic invertebrates (insects and their larvae, molluscs, crustaceans); also seeds and plant remains.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Northern Shoveler in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Northern Shoveler

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.