Ibises and spoonbills · Pelicans and herons
Eurasian Spoonbill
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Platalea leucorodia
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Voice
Call
Call
How to recognize it
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1 m, like a large stork
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All white, with black bill and legs
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Spatulate bill, yellow tip
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Flies with neck stretched straight out
About the species
Mostly white, the Eurasian Spoonbill shows a black bill and black legs, with a yellow patch on the breast in breeding plumage. In the breeding season it also grows a small crest at the back of the head.
It moves through shallow water with slow, side-to-side sweeps of its bill, filtering out small fish, shrimps, and other wetland prey. Its voice is usually limited to bill snapping, with an occasional deep grunt or a brief trumpet-like note.
Look for it in broad, shallow marshes, rivers, lakes, floodplains, and coastal lagoons, especially where the bottom is muddy or sandy. It feeds on aquatic insects, worms, crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, and small fish, and the more northern populations migrate south for winter while others stay put or move only locally.
Where to find
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Along shallow pond edges, canal banks, and quiet backwaters — especially where mud and reedbeds meet, the Eurasian Spoonbill feeds with slow side-to-side sweeps of its bill.
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On the margins of large reservoirs and brackish lagoons — small groups often show up on mudflats in the early morning or evening.
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Around reed-choked islets and dense marsh patches — look for low nests and white shapes sitting just above the water.
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In flight over a river — the neck stays stretched out, with long dark legs trailing like a small stork.
