The shovelers are four species of dabbling ducks in the genus Spatula with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks: [1]
- Red shoveler Spatula platalea
- Cape shoveler Spatula smithii
- Australasian shoveler Spatula rhynchotis
- Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata
As with most other dabbling ducks, they were formerly included in the genus Anas , until genetic studies from 2009 onward showed that this genus was paraphyletic. [2] The shovelers comprise the larger members of the genus Spatula, with the smaller species mostly called teals.
The spelling 'shoveller' is sometimes used,[ citation needed ] but not in any standard ornithological works.
