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Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

Spoonbill, adult

Spoonbill, adult, Dorset, UK (Dave Kjaer).

A feeding Spoonbill is a distinctive sight, even discounting the bird’s large size and white plumage, for few other birds place their bills in the water and sweep them, slightly open, in a wide arc from side to side again and again, strolling forwards all the while. This is the Spoonbill’s trademark foraging technique and the most efficient way to use its special bill. This bill is flattened in the horizontal plane, and at its broad tip are large numbers of sensitive internal touch receptors; when these fire, as the bill hits a moving object in the water, the mandibles snap shut at great speed and the prey can be captured and swallowed. It has also been discovered recently that the Spoonbill’s bill, held open and moved rapidly through the water, acts as a hydrofoil, lifting food items off the surface of the water or mud so that they can be more easily grasped.

Young Spoonbills are not born with oddly shaped bills. Instead their bills are short and soft, and it is only after nine days that the tip begins to flatten, and after sixteen days that the shape is clearly recognisable. At this time, of course, the young are fed by the adults, so they do not yet require their specialised apparatus.

Spoonbills (mainly juveniles) and Avocets

Spoonbills (mainly juveniles) and Avocets in flight (Dave Kjaer)


Not surprisingly the Spoonbill is a bird of wetlands, requiring wide areas of open, shallow water of consistent depth in which to find its food. A muddy or sandy bed also helps, as this will ensure that the site is rich in prey and easy on the feet. In addition there must be reedbeds or low bushes nearby in which the birds can build their nests. So the Spoonbill is quite a localised species, patchily distributed in Europe.