Cape Shoveler (Spatula smithii)
About the Cape Shoveler
The Cape shoveler or Cape shoveller (Spatula smithii) is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Spatula. It is resident in South Africa, and uncommon further north in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zambia. This 51–53 cm long duck is non-migratory, but undertakes some local seasonal movements. It is gregarious when not breeding, and may then form large flocks. This species has a large spatulate bill. Adults have speckled grey-brown plumage and dull orange legs. As with many southern hemisphere ducks, the sexes appear similar, but the male has a paler head than the female, a pale blue forewing separated from the green speculum by a white border, and yellow eyes. The female's forewing is grey.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 12 recordings for this species: 11 CC BY-NC-SA · 1 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in South Africa in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Blue-winged TealSpatula discorsrecording
- GarganeySpatula querquedularecording
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeatarecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.