Spatula smithii
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Pangalloanserae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Anseriformes
Familia: Anatidae
Genus: Spatula
Species: Spatula smithii
Name
Spatula smithii Hartert, 1891
Synonymy
Anas smithii
References
Katalog der Vogelsammlung in Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main: 231.
Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Kaapse slopeend
català: Ànec cullerot sud-africà
čeština: Lžičák kapský
Cymraeg: Hwyaden lydanbig y Penrhyn
dansk: Kapskeand
Deutsch: Kap-Löffelente
English: Cape Shoveler
Esperanto: Kablanda kuleranaso
español: Cuchara de El Cabo
فارسی: نوکپهن دماغه
suomi: Kapinlapasorsa
français: Canard de Smith
magyar: Fokföldi kanalasréce
italiano: Mestolone del Capo
日本語: ケープハシビロガモ
Plattdüütsch: Kapslubbe
Nederlands: Kaapse slobeend
norsk: Kappskjeand
русский: Африканская широконоска
svenska: Kapskedand
Türkçe: Kap kaşıkgagası
Tiếng Việt: Vịt mỏ thìa Cape
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.[1][2]
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.
Cape shoveler can only be confused with a vagrant female northern shoveler, but is much darker and stockier than that species.[2]
It is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some emergent vegetation, and feeds by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side to strain food from the water.[2] This bird also eats molluscs and insects in the nesting season. The nest is a shallow depression on the ground, lined with plant material and down, and usually close to water.
This is a fairly quiet species. The male has rarr and cawick calls, whereas the female has a quack.[2]
The Cape shoveler was described by the German ornithologist Ernst Hartert in 1891 under the present binomial name Spatula smithii.[3][4] The specific epithet commemorates the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith.[5]
The IUCN Red List sets the conservation status of the Cape shoveler as least concern.[1]
Footnotes
BirdLife International (2016). "Spatula smithii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680236A92852018. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680236A92852018.en. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
Wildfowl an Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World. London: A & C Black. 2010. pp. 233–234. ISBN 978-1408138953.
Hartert, Ernst (1891). Katalog der Vogelsammlung im Museum der Senckenbergischen naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt-am-Main (in German). Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany: Knauer. p. 231, note.
Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 479.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 358. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
References
Madge, & Burn, Wildfowl ISBN 0-7470-2201-1
Sinclair, Ian, Hockey, Phil, and Tarboton, Warwick SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1
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