Subject: Shoveler behavior
Date: Dec 9 15:59:37 1995
From: Burton Guttman - guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu



Today I found a pond with several No. Shovelers, along with a few other
ducks, and observed a behavior that I saw once before and find very
puzzling. I saw this first a couple of years ago, in the winter, at the
Montlake Fill: a male and female very close together, facing in opposite
directions (as if looking over one another's shoulders, so to speak),
with heads down in the water, turning around and around in a tight
circle. Today there were four birds doing this, one male and three
females, moving in a tight circle. Johnsgard, in _Waterfowl of N.
America_, doesn't mention the behavior, and I've never seen it mentioned
anywhere else. Johnsgard does mention that shovelers feed in small
groups, each bird dabbling in the wake of the one in front, but that
doesn't sound like circling behavior. He mentions a pairing behavior in
which the male turns the back of the head to the female, but that doesn't
sound like this behavior either. Does anyone know about this?

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794