December

If you want to know more about the water fowls in Hong Kong, Northern Shoveler will be a great choice for you to begin with.

Like other shovelers, Northern Shoveler bears an extremely long, wide and voluminous bill that you can locate them easily in the habitats they live, such as ponds, lakes and marshes. This extraordinary bill is not just an identification key but also an important tool for getting food they love, such as small crustaceans, molluscs, insects and their larvae. Using the series of serrated lamellae inside this large and flattened bill, Northern Shoveler can easily filter the planktons and aquatic plants out of water.

During the breeding season, feathers of the drakes become dark iridescent green on the head, white on the neck and breast, and form white stripe above the chestnut flanks and belly. These outstanding characteristics help you to spot them out from a large flock of ducks even when they are dabbling together with other wild fowls.

Northern Shoveler is one of the most abundant wintering water fowls in Hong Kong. In the winter of 2007/08, there were more than 14,000 individuals of Northern Shoveler recorded in the Mai Po and Inner Deep Bay area.