Colin,
I understand all confirmed records (and the bird at Werribee) are of males
in breeding plumage. Females, non-breeding males and juveniles are difficult
to separate from similar plumaged Australasian Shoveler which almost
certainly explains the absence of records for these plumages. Having said
this, it was speculated that a female plumaged bird with the male on the
Coongie lakes (1978) may have been a N. Shoveler. Unfortunately it was never
confirmed. I have also seen a female plumaged shoveler at Halls Creek N WA
in Nov 2000. (where apparently there are no (very few?) records of Aust
Shoveler). This bird had quite a bit of white in the tail but was too
distant and flighty to get much else. The real challenge will be to find and
gather sufficient evidence to clinch a female plumaged N. Shoveler in
Australia!
Here's a summary of the timing of Northern Shoveler records in Australia.
The first six records were taken from HANZAB. (I've posted some of these
details to the list before).
1) Louth NSW March 1975 (Specimen)
2) Coongie lakes SA 28 August 1979
3) Buckland Park SA 3 Sept- 11 Oct 1986
4) Buckland Park SA 12 Aug- Sept 1987
5) Werribee Vic 10-13 Dec 1983
6) L Namming WA 23 July 1982
7) Werribee Vic 7-9 Sept 1999
8) Near Grafton NSW 19 Aug 2000
9) Werribee Vic 26 July 2001 (till present?)
Interesting to note that 7 of the 9 Northern Shoveler records are in the
July-Sept period. This presumably coincides with the tail end of the
breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere before birds moult into winter
plumage.
Cheers
Rohan
-----Original Message-----
From: scouler
Sent: Monday, 30 July 2001 21:39
To: birding
Subject: Northern Shoveller at Werribee
Hello birders,
Can anyone comment on what stage of the moult-cycle the NS at Werribee
is in? I understand that it's possible for NSs to turn up in almost any
plumage, apart from juvenile, in Australia?
Regards,
Colin Scouler
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