The colorful Northern Shovelers are one of the more common ducks throughout the world. During the winter at the refuge, there are at least several hundreds of them foraging for food in the marshes with their typically long bills (2.5 inches or 6.35 cm).
In the US, during duck hunting season, an average of 700,000 Northern Shovelers are brought down each year! Yet, they are not on the endangered species list. Here are some recent photos of them at the refuge.
Wonderful photos Hien .. how I love seeing them in flight
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Thank you Julie! Northern Shovelers are especially colorful in flight.
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Beautiful captures. Thank for sharing
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Thank you Chuyen!
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700,000 are brought down in a hunting season! What do the hunter do wuth them? Do they eat them?
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This is the best I could find about eating these ducks: “It depends on where you hunt and where the ducks have been. If it has been sitting on the rivers and ponds and so forth it is going to be very strong but if it has been sitting and eating out of flooded grain fields and so forth for a while it will not be as strong.” So there must be people who have eaten them.
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That makes me think that most people don’t!
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They are far too beautiful to take potshots at. I’m thankful you shoot with a camera, Hien, to bring us these great images!
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Thank you for your kind comments, Dries!
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Beautiful captures of this handsome duck, Hien. I’m glad to know that their numbers are stable.
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Thanks Eliza! I couldn’t believe hunters kill so many of them every year.
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Amazingly natural photos, Hien.
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Thank you Michael!
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Lovely captures of the Northern Shovelers, Hien!
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Thank you Dina!
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great birds in motion
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Thanks, Jim! These ducks photograph better than Mallards, for me anyway.
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These are beautiful, Hien!
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Thank you Donna!
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