Eurasian Spoonbill

Latin Name : Platalea leucorodia

Description ( photo, colour of male and female, height, shape of beak ).

Height : 80 to 90 cm.

Wingspan : 115 to 130 cm

Weight : 1200 to 1700 g

It has a long, broad, flat bill the end of which is shaped like a spatula. The bill is black with a yellow tip. Its plumage is creamy white and its feet are black.

Diet :

It lives on small crustaceans, food molluscs ( with its spatula bill ). It eats small fish, insects and other aquatic creatures.

Reproduction :

It lays 3 to 5 eggs in April and May. The incubation period is 24 days. The pair build a nest of twigs and seaweed in a tree or in the reeds; the pair take turns to incubate the eggs. It nests in colonies in trees, and large reed swamps.

Habitat :

It lives in damp coastal areas. It needs access to sheltered shallow open water and also salt ponds.

Migration :

It migrates. In western Europe, the Eurasian spoonbill nests in Pays Bas  and in Spain. Since 1981, it has reproduced in France ( in Loire Atlantique and in the Landes. These birds winter in France and Spain. The majority of these birds ( 90 % ) regroup in western Africa ( Senegal and Mauritania ).

Conservation measures ( protected species or not ) :

In France the species is protected.

Lifespan :

28 years maximum

Cry or song :

It is generally silent.