Northern Shoveler

norsho
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Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”

The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).

The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.

 

The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.

 

The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.

You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.

Climate Endangered

Northern Shoveler

The darker the color, the more favorable the climate conditions are for survival. The outlined areas represent approximate current range for each season. More on reading these maps.

The darker the color, the more favorable the climate conditions are for survival. The outlined areas represent approximate current range for each season.

More on reading these maps.
Winter
Summer

Winter Range
Summer Range
Both Seasons
Zoom InOut
Focal Species
Adam Harris/Flickr Creative Commons
Cool Facts

To deter predators from destroying her clutch, the female defecates on her nest when she’s flushed off.

The male is very territorial and will chase other males away from his mate.

During the molting period, the male is extremely secretive and hard to find.

Like most dabbling ducks, shovelers pair up on the wintering grounds, with the male following the female north to her breeding territory in spring.

After breeding and molting, males travel together in flocks of 20-40.


According to Audubon's climate model, this charismatic duck is projected to lose 75 percent of its current summer range by 2080, with no potential for expansion. During the winter, however, a strong northward push is predicted, with the species largely blanketing the lower 48 by 2080. As a bird of open wetlands, how climate change will impact rainfall across the summer breeding grounds is a big concern.

Species Range Change from 2000 to 2080

The size of the circles roughly indicates the species’ range size in 2000 (left) and 2080 (right).

The amount of overlap between the 2000 circle and the 2080 circle indicates how stable the range will be geographically. Lots of overlap means the bird’s range doesn’t shift much. No overlap means the species will leave its current range entirely.

About This Bird

This dabbling duck is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, breeding across Europe and Asia as well as North America, and wintering south into the tropics around the world. In North America its main breeding areas are from Alaska south through western Canada and much of the western United States, with more localized populations in the eastern part of the continent. A denizen of shallow marshes, the shoveler is often seen swimming forward with its big, spatulate bill partly submerged in the muddy soup. Its bill is adapted for straining tiny crustaceans, insects, and seeds from the water. Although shovelers look heavy-bodied, they are good fliers; at large gatherings during migration or winter, small groups of these ducks are often seen taking off, circling the area, and then landing again, for no apparent reason.

Cool Facts

To deter predators from destroying her clutch, the female defecates on her nest when she’s flushed off.

The male is very territorial and will chase other males away from his mate.

During the molting period, the male is extremely secretive and hard to find.

Like most dabbling ducks, shovelers pair up on the wintering grounds, with the male following the female north to her breeding territory in spring.

After breeding and molting, males travel together in flocks of 20-40.


Birds at Risk

Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.

Allen's Hummingbird
Baird's Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Brown Pelican
Burrowing Owl
Cerulean Warbler
Common Loon
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Golden Eagle
Greater Sage-Grouse
Hooded Oriole
Mississippi Kite
Northern Shoveler
Osprey
Piping Plover
Ruffed Grouse
Rufous Hummingbird
Spotted Owl
Tundra Swan
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-billed Magpie

You Can Help

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