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What Animal is a Spoonbill?

Spoonbill (scientific name: Platalea leucorodia) is a collective name for six species of long-legged wading birds. Mainly feed on small vertebrates and invertebrates such as shrimps, crabs, aquatic insects, insect larvae, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, tadpoles, lizards, small fish, and occasionally eat a small amount of plant food.

The spoonbill is the national bird of the Netherlands. The spoonbill gets its name because its mouth is very similar to the lute. Distributed in southern Europe to Asia, a few in Africa. But the breeding grounds in Europe are limited to the Netherlands and Spain.

Appearance feature

The spoonbill is a migratory bird with a body length of 60-95 cm. Body length is about 60 to 80 cm (24 to 32 inches). Part or all of the head is exposed. The plumage of most species is white, sometimes with a rose-red tinge.

Living habits

Spoonbills often live in flocks. Occasionally there is a single activity. When resting, they often spread out in a line by the water. Standing still for a long time, when frightened, it flies to other places. It is alert and fearful in nature, and its wings flap faster when flying, with an average flapping of about 186 times per minute. They often fly in sparse single rows or in wavy oblique rows.

It can fly by flapping its wings or gliding with thermals, and it is often a combination of flapping and gliding, followed by gliding after a burst of flapping. When flying, stretch your feet behind you and straighten your head and neck forward.

Foraging mainly in the morning and evening, often in the evening foraging. They also form small flocks, occasionally foraging alone. It mostly forages in shallow waters not deeper than 30 cm, and often forages in the intertidal zone and the estuary of rivers at the seaside. During the breeding season, they sometimes fly to places 10 to 20 kilometers away from the nesting site to forage, and some even go to places 35 to 40 kilometers away from the nesting site to forage.

Foraging does not directly prey on visible food through the eyes, but walks in shallow water beside the water while opening its mouth, reaching into the water and sweeping back and forth, like a semicircular scythe cutting back and forth from side to side. grass. The mouth usually opens 5 cm, the tip of the mouth directly touches the bottom of the water, and when it hits the prey; it can be caught. Sometimes they even put their mouths aside, dragging their mouths and running quickly for food.

Growth and reproduction

The breeding season of spoonbills is summer, and the breeding season in China is generally from May to July, and they like to breed in clusters. The nests are usually built in the reeds deep in the reed pond or near the water. The nests are built in groups. The distance between the nests is very close, usually 1 to 2 meters. Braided with grass stems and leaves. Breed once a year, laying 3 to 5 eggs per clutch. Eggs are white, oblong, and hatch for 21 days. The male and female parent birds co-incubate and breed together. Leaves the nest on the 28th, and can fly on the 35th to 40th. In mid-October, move south to the wintering ground.

Habitat

Spoonbills inhabit the banks of rivers, lakes, reservoirs and their shallow waters in open plains and mountainous and hilly areas; they also inhabit flooded plains, reed marshes, coastal swamps, coastal mangroves, river valley alluvial land, and estuary deltas. Habitat, rarely found in stony waters at the bottom of rivers and vegetated wetlands.

Distribution range

The rose-red spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) of South and North America is about 80 cm long, with deep pink plumage and white neck and upper back. Distributed from the Gulf Coast and West Indies of Texas to Argentina and Chile.

The European White Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) is white, crowned, about 60 cm long, and has a yellow-brown front neck. It breeds in central and southern Eurasia, as far south as Egypt, India and Taiwan.

Other species include the African Spoonbill (P.alba), the East Asian Small Spoonbill (P.minor), and the Great Spoonbill (P.regia) and Yellow-billed Spoonbill (P.flavipes, or Yellow-legged Spoonbill) in Australia. two kinds.