Why shoot the shoveler?

Forest and Bird, Issue 266, 1 November 1992, Page 3

Why shoot the shoveler?

Ann Graeme

SHOVELERS are very unusual dabbling ducks. Unlike other dabbling ducks, they do not graze on grass or grain and are therefore entirely depend- | ent on shallow swamps. Shovelers seem to be in decline and this can be largely attributed to the loss of these fertile wetlands to farming. In the late 1970s, the population of this duck (an endemic subspecies of the Australasian shoveler) was estimated at 130,000 birds out of a total waterfowl population of more than five million. Since then much wetland habitat has been drained or degraded and many observers suspect that the shoveler population has dropped considerably. This decline is certainly suggested in the official records of the waterfowl shooting season which are sourced from hunters’ diaries. In practically every part of the country in 1990 and 1991, hunters’ records and opinions suggest shoveler numbers to be down.

Murupara Forest and Bird member and keen shooter Andre Terpstra fears shovelers are continuing to decline drastically. On his farm where he and his wife Louise have sanctuary ponds and ponds for hunting, Andre has watched waterfowl for many years. He observes that shovelers are less wary than the introduced mallard, and respond readily to the decoys and calls of hunters.

These techniques are much more widely used than they were ten years ago, so bagged shovelers might have been expected to increase, rather than decline as they have done. It is not clear whether shooting is a factor in the decline of shoveler, but it obviously doesn’t help. If shoveler were removed from the shooting list, a spin-off would be the enhanced protection of other

small ducks. Shoveler are small and with their rapid flight can be confused with grey teal, a fully protected species. Many grey teal are shot by mistake for shoveler. If the latter were not targeted, this confusion should not arise, as hunting would focus on the much larger ducks — mallard, grey duck and paradise shelduck. The loss of shoveler to most hunters would be slight. Over much of New Zealand shoveler contribute less than two percent to the hunter’s bag (although in the Hawke’s Bay and Wellington districts the figures are between five and six percent, and in North Canterbury and Otago, nine percent). Already some hunters are choosing not to shoot shovelers. Perhaps it is time to consider greater protection for this endemic bird, and concentrate hunting pressure on the flourishing waterfowl species which have been introduced for this purpose.