Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia Scientific name definitions

70–95 cm; 1130–1960 g; wingspan 115–135 cm. Male somewhat larger, with longer bill and legs. Extent of yellow at base of neck variable, from only small patch in front to complete ring . Non breeding adult lacks yellow and also crest. Immature similar to non breeding adult, but bill initially pinkish; black tips  to primaries  . Races balsaci and archeri smaller; balsaci has bill wholly black, and usually lacks yellowish at base of neck.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

• Eurasian x Black-faced Spoonbill (hybrid) Platalea leucorodia x minor

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Frequents shallow , usually extensive wetlands ; including marshes, rivers, large waterbodies and flooded areas. It also uses sheltered maritime habitats, such as deltas, estuaries, tidal creeks and coastal lagoons, particularly in its wintering areas. Nests are frequently placed in dense masses of emergent plants, especially reedbeds, often with scattered bushes or trees. It usually nests on islands in lakes or rivers, occasionally off sea coasts.

Palearctic birds of nominate race migratory and dispersive. Migrants may travel at considerable heights, usually in formation. W European populations winter partly around Mediterranean Basin but chiefly in tropical N Africa, especially at Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, where winter numbers in 1979/80–2006/07 ranged from 7250 to 10,000 birds, the largest known concentration of the species anywhere (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ). Some 80–90% of NW European population is estimated to use Banc d’Arguin either as a stopover site or to winter (4 Overdijk, O., de le Court, C. and Gueye, A. (2001). Spoonbill count on the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, January 2000. WIWO-report. 70. Close ). W European birds, including those from large Dutch population, travel via W Iberian Peninsula and Moroccan Atlantic wetlands (5 de Juana, E., and E. Garcia (2015). The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Palearctic birds start to occur on passage through Mauritania in early Aug, some continuing S to winter in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, but winter visitors continue to arrive as late as Nov. First birds return N in December (Spanish individuals) and between mid Jan/Feb and Mar (Dutch breeders) (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ). The species also occurs patchily in winter in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, NE Nigeria and Chad, and has been recorded in Sierra Leone and Gambia (6 Borrow, N., and R. Demey (2001). Birds of Western Africa. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 7 van der Windena, J., Siakab, A., Gbengbab, K., Dirksena, S. and Poota, M. (2008). First records for Sierra Leone of Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata and Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus. Bull. African Bird Club. 15(1): 108–109. Close , 8 Crewe, M. D. (2001). Selected observations from The Gambia, 1997–1999, with comments on the identification of a number of species. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 8(2):113–116. Close ); a few regularly reach Cape Verde Is (9 Hazevoet, C.J. (1992). Further notes on migrants in the Cape Verde Islands. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 112(1): 61–64. Close ). For the population breeding in Netherlands, mortality during spring migration is much higher among birds that winter in Mauritania (18%) compared to those moving only as far as France (5%) or Iberia (6%); summer, autumn and winter survival rates, however, are very high and independent of migration distance (10 Lok, T., Overdijk, O. and Piersma, T. (2015). The cost of migration: spoonbills suffer higher mortality during trans-Saharan spring migrations only. Biology Letters. 11: 20140944. Close ). E European metapopulation uses two distinct migration routes: one over Adriatic Sea, through Italy to N Africa, and the other SE, through the Balkans, Turkey and Middle East to Upper Nile basin (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ). Recent studies of colour-ringed individuals from Balkans have found that they largely winter in S Italy and Tunisia (12 Kralj, J., Žuljeviȏ, A., Mikuska, T. and Overdijk, O. (2012). Movements of immature Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia from the breeding grounds of the eastern metapopulation in the Pannonian Basin. Waterbirds. 35(2): 239–247. Close ). Some C European Spoonbills move along Nile Valley to winter in S Egypt and Sudan. Breeders from E Europe and W Asia also winter in S Egypt and Sudan, but birds colour-ringed at Danube Delta have been found as far apart as Spain and Oman (13 Smart, M., Azafzaf, H. and Dlensi, H. (2007). The ‘Eurasian’ Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Africa. Ostrich. 78(2): 495–500. Close ). Birds ringed in Caspian region have been recovered in India. Some immatures remain in their winter quarters in Africa, or elsewhere, for up to three years before returning to Europe, but others return in their first or second years, where they may wander far from their natal colonies, e.g. some Croatian immatures have been seen at German colonies (14 De le Court, C. and Aguilera, E. (1997). Dispersal and migration in Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia). Ardea. 85: 193–202. Close , 12 Kralj, J., Žuljeviȏ, A., Mikuska, T. and Overdijk, O. (2012). Movements of immature Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia from the breeding grounds of the eastern metapopulation in the Pannonian Basin. Waterbirds. 35(2): 239–247. Close ). Within Europe there is some post-fledging dispersal N in early autumn, prior to southward migration, exceptionally over long distances; immatures ringed in Yugoslavia and Holland have been recovered in Scotland and Azores respectively. Birds nesting in N Asia winter in S Asia. Large concentrations occur in Jiangxi Province, SE China, in Dec and Jan at Poyang Lake Nature Reserve, with peak count of 10,385 in winter 2008/09 (15 JIN Jie-Feng, LW Guan-Hua, JIN Zhi-Fang, WU Jian-Dong, ZENG Nan-Jing and GAO Xiang. (2012). Distribution and Status of Wintering Eurasian Spoonbills in Poyang Lake Nature Reserve. Chinese J. Zool.. 46(2): 59–64. Close ). Breeding populations of India and Sri Lanka are sedentary and nomadic. Races balsaci and archeri sedentary and dispersive. In Mauritania some immatures of largely resident population of balsaci disperse S towards Senegal (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ). Vagrants recorded in Norway, Sweden, Faeroes, Iceland, Canary Is and Madeira (16 Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. eds. (1977). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Close ), as well as Trinidad & Tobago (17 Kenefick, M. (2012). Report of the Trinidad and Tobago Rare Birds Committee: rare birds in 278788–178. Cotinga 34:100–105. Close ). Also several records on Hainan I, off southernmost China (18 Lee Kwok Shing, Chan Bosco Pui Lok, Lu Gang and Su Wen-Ba (2007). Wetland birds of Hainan Island, China: results from winter waterbird surveys 2003–2007. Forktail. 23: 92–101. Close ), and a few occur annually with P. minor wintering in Taiwan (19 Yat-Tung Yu and Swennen, C (2005). Black-faced Spoonbill wintering in inland China. BirdingASIA. 4: 63. Close ), with one found with latter species in Vietnam in Jan (20 Eames, J.C. (1996). Some additions to the list of birds of Vietnam. Forktail. 12: 163–166. Close ) and single record in the Philippines (Decc 2007–Jan 2008) (21 Jensen, A. E., T. H. Fisher, and R. O. Hutchinson (2015). Notable new bird records from the Philippines. Forktail 31:24–36. Close ).

Largely carnivorous , taking adults and larvae of water beetles, dragonflies, caddisflies, locusts, flies and other insects; also molluscs, crustaceans , worms, leeches, frogs, tadpoles and small fish ; sometimes algae, fragments of aquatic plants and other plant matter. Those that forage in salt or brackish water appear to feed almost entirely on shrimps and small fish : in Netherlands takes gobies (Gobiidae) and shrimps (Crangon crangon); in Mauritania, frequencies of principal prey items in faeces of P. l. balsaci were shrimp (59·7%) and small fish (35·4%), the latter dominated by Gobiidae (20·8%), Soleidae (4·8%) and Mugilidae (2·8%) (22 Veen J., Overdijk O. and Veen T. (2012). The diet of an endemic subspecies of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia balsaci, breeding at the Banc d’Arguin,Mauritania. Ardea. 100: 123–130. Close ). P. l. balsaci forages exclusively in sea-grass Zostera beds, all day when not breeding, but only at night when nesting (23 El-Hacen, E-H. M., Overdijk, O., Lok, T., Olff, H. and Piersma. T. (2013). Home range, habitat selection, and foraging rhythm in Mauritanian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia balsaci): a satellite tracking study. Waterbirds. 36(3): 277–286. Close ). Study in Netherlands found that where both freshwater and saltwater habitats are available, diet of chicks initially based on items obtained in fresh water but then switches mainly to items of saltwater origin (24 El-Hacen, E-H. M., Piersma. T., Jouta, J., Overdijk, O. and Lok, T. (2014). Seasonal variation in the diet of Spoonbill chicks in the Wadden Sea: a stable isotopes approach. Journal of Ornithology. 155: 611–619. Close ). Species forages in small flocks, less often alone; wades methodically in shallow water, sweeping bill from side to side ; sometimes runs after prey . Partly a nocturnal feeder. Significance of the shape of the bill is controversial with conflicting hypotheses that it serves to minimise drag and turbulence during sweeping, hence not alarming potential prey (25 Swennen, C. and Yu, Y-T. (2008). Bill sweeping in spoonbills Platalea: no evidence for an effective suction force at the tip. Journal of Avian Biology. 39: 3–6. Close ) and that it generates suction effects (26 Weihs, D. and Katzir, G. (2008). Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia are good hydrodynamicists after all: reply to Swennen and Yu. Journal of Avian Biology. 39: 7–8. Close ). Alien prey species have become important in Spain: in Andalucía, the principal prey is an introduced North American fish, the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), but in Doñana another North American alien, the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), is highly important in the diet (27 Máñez, M. and Rendón-Martos, M. eds. (2009). El morito, la espátula y el flamenco en España. Población en 2007 y método de censo. SEO/Birdlife, Madrid. Close ).

Usually silent away from breeding colonies, but occasionally gives a short, upslurred slightly nasal “fwit!...fwit!...” in flight (28 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Around nest, subdued calls include a deep grunting “huh..huh..huh” and groans during nest relief, and a clipped musical “k’lick..k’lick...”. Also bill-snapping when excited, but no true bill-clattering as in most storks. Young beg for food by uttering high-pitched reedy squeals “reeeeuh....reeeeuh...”.

A spring breeder in N of range, laying mainly from Apr in Spain, but occasionally in winter (Jan–Feb). Breeding season variable on Indian subcontinent, depending on water conditions, mostly Jul–Oct in N, Nov–Jan in S; Dec–Apr in Sri Lanka. African breeders nest mainly before or during rains; Mar–Jul in S Red Sea (29 Semere, D., Hagos, T., Seleba, G., Gebrezgabhier, Y., Haile, Z., Chiozzi, G. and De Marchi, G. (2008). The status of breeding seabirds and waterbirds on the Eritrean Red Sea islands. Bull. Afr. Bird Club. 15(2): 228–237. Close ). In Mauritania, P. l. balsaci has protracted and poorly synchronized breeding season: eggs laid between Mar and Sept, peaking May–Jun (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ). Highly asynchronous breeding also reported in nominate race birds in Spain, where there may be three months between earliest and last laying dates in a colony, and this may be a general characteristic of the species (30 Aguilera, E. (1990). Sexual differences in nest attendance and chick-feeding rhythms of White Spoonbills. Auk. 107: 416–420. Close ). Spanish studies have found that extra-pair copulations are frequent. Perhaps in consequence, although males are mainly responsible for nest-building, during daylight they incubate and attend the nest more than females. Females incubate and attend the nest at night and feed the chicks at a higher rate than males. Males thus contribute most to activities that do not require leaving their nests, where all copulations occur (31 Aguilera, E. (1991). Parental roles in the White Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia): the sperm competitlon hypothesis. Ardeola. 44(1): 19–28. Close ). Typically forms monospecific colonies ; in mixed colonies shows tendency towards segregation. Nest a platform of sticks, twigs, reeds or grass stems, lined to varying extent with grass and leaves; built on ground or on tufts of grass when on islands, or up to 5 m up when nesting in bushes, mangroves or trees  . Clutch size usually 3–4 eggs (3–7); incubation 24–25 days; chicks have sparse white down; fledge in 45–50 days. Sexual maturity probably at 3–4 years old; oldest ringed bird was over 28 years old. Nesting success variable with those nesting on ground especially vulnerable: all nests may be destroyed by rising water levels, as reported in some seasons at Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Global population estimated at 66,000–140,000 birds, the great majority being of the nominate subspecies. Breeding range has always been discontinuous, but has certainly contracted since historical times, with further marked declines during 20th century, especially in W Europe, although there has been local recolonization and population increase in Europe more recently. Former and current declines throughout range related mainly to wetland drainage, pollution and human exploitation. Total European population estimated at 10,300 breeding pairs (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ), versus 3100–4400 pairs in late 1980s/early 1990s. Populations increasing in W Europe, where new colonies have appeared recently in Portugal, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark, as well as in Morocco (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ). Dutch population reached lowest level in 1968, when there were 151 pairs, but increased from 1980s to reach 1900–2000 pairs in 2012 (32 van Turnhout, C. A. M., E. J. M. Hagemeijer and R. P. B. Foppen (2010). Long-term population developments in typical marshland birds in The Netherlands. Ardea 98(3):283–299. Close ). In Spain the mean population since 1996 has been c.1,400 pairs, with a maximum 2,700 pairs in 2001, and fewer than 300 pairs during dry years of 1999 and 2005 (5 de Juana, E., and E. Garcia (2015). The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). In France numbers increased from 150–160 pairs in 2006 to 560–624 pairs in 2012 (33 Quaintenne, G. (2013). Les oiseaux nicheurs rares et menacés en France en 2012. Ornithos. 20(6): 297–332. Close ). Breeding also recently confirmed in Britain (34 Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. (2013). Bird Atlas 285857–11: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Books, Thetford. Close ). In E Europe species is increasing in Hungary and Romania, and new colonies have recently been established in Czech Republic and Slovakia, but populations of Russia and Turkey are declining sharply (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ). Breeding in Syria first reported in 2005 (35 Serra, G., D. Murdoch, F. Turlcelboom, F. Travert, Y. Mujawer, and D. Scott (2006). Sabkhat al-Jabbul, a threatened Ramsar wetland in Syria. Sandgrouse 28(2):127–141. Close ). European breeders mainly winter in Africa (see Movements). Breeding populations in SC Asia, E to Kazakhstan and S to Indian subcontinent, estimated in 2005 at 23,000 birds, with perhaps another 10,000 birds in E Asia, but these figures are far from precise and numbers are probably declining. L Tashk holds an important colony in Iran, where there were 200 pairs and > 1000 birds in 2004 (36 Sehhatisabet, M. E., Balouch, M., Bahman-Pour, A., Khaleghizadeh, A. and Elahi-Rad, Z. (2006). Ringing four breeding waterbird species at Lake Tashk. Sandgrouse. 28(2): 106–113. Close ). Asian breeders winter in S Asia, where midwinter censuses in early 1990s recorded 508 birds in Iran, 401 in Oman, 438 in Saudi Arabia, 2543 in Pakistan, 4301 in India (1616 in Gujarat, 805 in Rajasthan), 545 in Sri Lanka and 47 in Bangladesh. In China, large numbers winter on lower R Yangtze floodplain, particularly at L Poyang , Jiangxi, where > 10,000 were counted in winter 2008/09 (15 JIN Jie-Feng, LW Guan-Hua, JIN Zhi-Fang, WU Jian-Dong, ZENG Nan-Jing and GAO Xiang. (2012). Distribution and Status of Wintering Eurasian Spoonbills in Poyang Lake Nature Reserve. Chinese J. Zool.. 46(2): 59–64. Close ). Perhaps a fairly common winter visitor to Japan before 1870, but now rare, indicating probable decline in E Asian populations. Population of P. l. balsaci presently most at risk with just 750 breeding pairs (1610 pairs in 1985) and very high mortality among fledgings. The breeding population is restricted to a single site, the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania. A large proportion of juveniles are killed by predators (jackals) and the breeding site faces an increasing risk of flooding (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ). Some breeders of the nominate subspecies have been found in balsaci colonies and nominate race birds have probably also nested in Senegal (3 Isenmann, P., M. Benmergui, P. Browne, A. D. Ba, C. H. Diagana, Y. Diawara, and Z. El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010). Oiseaux de Mauritanie [Birds of Mauritania]. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris, France. Close ). P. l. archeri numbers 1100–1200 breeding pairs, although recent data from Sudan and Somalia is lacking. In Eritrea, 18 islands held a total of 284 pairs early in 21st century (29 Semere, D., Hagos, T., Seleba, G., Gebrezgabhier, Y., Haile, Z., Chiozzi, G. and De Marchi, G. (2008). The status of breeding seabirds and waterbirds on the Eritrean Red Sea islands. Bull. Afr. Bird Club. 15(2): 228–237. Close ). P. l. archeri is not protected in  Djibouti and Eritrea, and there are indications that colonies are often disturbed by human activities; Egyptian population estimated at 30–50 pairs in the 1980s, 11–20 pairs in 1983–1984 and no more than 10 pairs in the late 1990s, but 12 pairs were found in 2012–2014 (37 Habib, M.I. (2016). Update on breeding status of Red Sea Spoonbill in Egypt. Dutch Birding. 38: 69–74. Close ). Birds are often in non-protected areas and liable to persecution (11 Triplet, P., Overdijk, O., Smart, M., Nagy, S., Schneider-Jacoby, M., Karauz, E.S., Pigniczki, Cs., Baha El Din, S., Kralj, J., Sandor, A., Navedo, J.G. (Compilers). (2008). International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. . Close ).