Shoveler: A predatory duck with hundreds of “teeth” inside its beak. Looks like an ancient Greek monster (7 photos)

- What is this, I ask you?! - the Creator shouted, pointing to the box. The courier did not answer, looking down at the floor. So screw up the order for assembling mallards: some of the parts turned out to be defective, and some were even from the “Whale” model. The Creator looked at his watch, sighed and began to collect from what he had. This is how we got a new species of bird similar to a mallard, but with a huge snout and the most stubborn - this miracle of nature is called the Shoveler.





Even if things didn’t actually happen that way, nature certainly wasn’t in the mood when it created the “defective mallard.” The Shoveler looks almost exactly like an ordinary duck, if not for the disproportionately huge spade-shaped beak, which, even if one wants to, can hardly be called beautiful.



And the whole Shoveler, in comparison with the Mallard, looks like an “ugly duckling”: somehow awkward and absurd. And in the look of this duck one can read that she has long been filled and fully realized her existence.





But it’s only at first glance that the shoehorn is all so comical, because as soon as it opens its beak, it immediately turns into a fiend of hell. The inside of the beak and tongue are covered with thousands of sharp teeth, with which the demonic duck bites into the necks of sinners and devours their souls!



Okay, things are a little different. These “teeth” are not sharp at all, and the shoveler does not hunt sinners. But nevertheless, it is the Shoveler that is one of the most “carnivorous” ducks on the planet. Many birds have similar "teeth", such as domestic geese. But the Shoveler actively uses them for hunting.



The toothed duck feeds mainly on animals: small crustaceans, mollusks, various insects and their larvae. To get them, the bird dips its beak into the water, takes a mouthful of it, and then strains it back through the numerous bristles in the beak - thus all the edible remains inside. Doesn't remind you of anything? That’s right, in terms of feeding methods, the Shoveler is one in the same as a whale.



The filtering process itself looks something like this.

This mechanism for obtaining food is unique, so the shoveler does not compete with other waterfowl and feels great wherever it is found. This duck lives in reservoirs of the steppe and forest-steppe zones all over the world above the equator, and nowhere is there even a hint of the threat of extinction of the species.



But in the reproduction of shovelers everything is standard. Males are attracted to females, and after they have done their job, they gather in bachelor parties and moult. The mother takes care of the offspring on her own.

And although the Shoveler looks a little ridiculous, it has perfectly adapted to the changing conditions of nature. “The main thing is not beauty, but the ability to survive,” this duck knows like no one else, and we have a lot to learn from her.