Bird
Northern Shoveler
Anas clypeata
A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in all 100 counties and 15 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 15

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 15
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 15
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests




Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Other habitats in its models (45)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (30)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Winter, only within 30 m of water.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
Northeast (3)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Winter.
Land cover and other classes (12)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter, only within 30 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter, only within 30 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 78 of 100 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 33 of 100 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 18
- Alga-like PondweedPotamogeton confervoides
- Clasping-leaf PondweedPotamogeton perfoliatus
- Illinois PondweedPotamogeton illinoensis
- Largeleaf PondweedPotamogeton amplifolius
- Leafy PondweedPotamogeton foliosus
- Longleaf PondweedPotamogeton nodosus
- Ribbonleaf PondweedPotamogeton epihydrus
- Small PondweedPotamogeton pusillus
- Snail-seed PondweedPotamogeton bicupulatus
- Spotted PondweedPotamogeton pulcher
- Waterthread PondweedPotamogeton diversifolius
- Common HornwortCeratophyllum demersum
- Southern HornwortCeratophyllum australe
- Spineless HornwortCeratophyllum echinatum
- Widgeon-grassRuppia maritima
- Seashore SaltgrassDistichlis spicata
- Slender WaternymphNajas gracillima
- Southern WaternymphNajas guadalupensis
Plant genera in its diet records (5)
- Potamogeton Leaves and seeds. 3 diet records. 11 native plants in North Carolina
- Ceratophyllum Seeds and leaves. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
- Ruppia Seeds and leaves. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Distichlis Leaves. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Najas Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 70
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Plants 367
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Wolf's BluegrassPoa wolfii
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Woodland SpurgeEuphorbia obtusata
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
Swamps
Birds 69
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- RedheadAythya americana
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
Plants 329
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Weak Stellate SedgeCarex seorsa
- White-edge SedgeCarex debilis
- Swamp ButtercupRanunculus septentrionalis
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Northern Shoveler Slow streams only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus

































































