1. sheldrake(n = noun.animal) fish duck, merganser, sawbill - large crested fish-eating diving duck having a slender hooked bill with serrated edges;
is a kind of sea duck
is a member of genus mergus, mergus
has particulars: goosander, mergus merganser, american merganser, mergus merganser americanus, mergus serrator, red-breasted merganser, mergus albellus, smew, hooded merganser, hooded sheldrake, lophodytes cucullatus
2. sheldrake(n = noun.animal) - Old World gooselike duck slightly larger than a mallard with variegated mostly black-and-white plumage and a red bill;
is a kind of duck
is a member of genus tadorna, tadorna
has particulars: shelduck
1. Any one of several species of large Old World ducks of the genus
" It has the head and neck greenish black, the breast, sides, and forward part of the back brown, the shoulders and middle of belly black, the speculum green, and the bill and frontal bright red. Called also
" The Australian sheldrake (
2. Any one of the American mergansers. [1913 Webster]
" The name is also loosely applied to other ducks, as the canvasback, and the shoveler." [1913 Webster]