How do shoveler ducks use their bills to filter tiny organisms from water?

Shoveler ducks, which belong to the order Anseriformes, possess specialized, spoon-shaped bills that are highly adapted for filter feeding.1

These bills are lined with extremely fine, comblike structures known as lamellae. This advanced sieving mechanism allows the ducks to sift small organisms, such as diatoms, and seeds from mud or to skim plankton directly from the water's surface film. By utilizing these fine lamellae, shovelers can efficiently extract tiny food particles that other dabbling ducks might not be able to capture as effectively.12