Our Common Shelduck is a bird boldly patterned in white, chestnut, and iridescent greenish-black. Males have a conspicuous knobbed red bill that brightens even more in the breeding season. Highly gregarious during the molt, pairs disperse widely during the breeding season to nest in tree cavities, rabbit holes, or even under buildings. The much darker, beautifully marked, Australian Shelducks form long term pair bonds. Photo by Jessie Cohen, NZP Dabbling ducks , typified by the ubiquitous Mallard, are the most numerous and well-known of the world's waterfowl tribes.
Dabblers have the typical flat duck bill that they use to forage in shallow water.
Rows of horny plates, called lamellae, that line the bill enable them to filter food items from the water. This feature is most pronounced in the Northern Shoveler which derives its common name from the shape of its broad flat bill. Dabbling ducks often tip their bodies when feeding with legs and tail in the air as they graze on submerged vegetation or search the muddy bottom for aquatic invertebrates. Most males of this tribe alternate seasonally between a distinctive brightly colored breeding plumage and a far drabber eclipse plumage in which they resemble the females. Almost all species sport a patch of colorful and often iridescent wing feathers, known as a speculum.