Eurasian Spoonbill - BirdForum Opus

Breeding plumage
Photo © by John George Richardson
Eastbridge, Suffolk, 22 March 2013

Platalea leucorodia

Identification

Breeding adult

• White plumage
• Crest
• Yellow breast patch
• Dark legs
• Black, yellow tipped, bill

Non-breeding

Non-breeding plumage
Photo © by Julio Caldas
Quinta do Lago, Algarve, Portugal, 1 March 2006

• No crest and no breast patch

Juvenile

• Black tipped primary flight feathers
• Pale bill

Distribution

Southern Eurasia, (Spain to Japan), and North Africa. Vagrant to the Caribbean (Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados), and to Greenland^[2].

Taxonomy

Subspecies

1st Winter
Photo © by Qingcol
Amble, Cornwall, 21 October 2009

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• P. l. leucorodia:

• Southern Palearctic to India; winters to central Africa and south-eastern China

• P. l. balsaci:

• Banc d'Arguin (off coast of Mauritania)

• P. l. archeri:

• Coasts of Red Sea and Somalia

Habitat

Wetlands and marshes.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in colonies in trees or reedbeds. The clutch consists of 4 eggs.

Diet

Juvenile
Photo © by rsriram9
Thol, Gujarat, India, 4 March 2013

The diet includes fish and frogs.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. 51st supplement to the AOU checklist of North American birds
3. Wikipedia contributors. (2019, March 7). Eurasian spoonbill. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:53, May 8, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_spoonbill&oldid=886654087
4. Brazil, M. (2018) Birds of Japan, Helm. ISBN 978-1-4729-1386-9
5. Harrison, C.J.O. 1965. Allopreening as agonistic behaviour. Behaviour 24: 161-209.
6. Matheu, E., del Hoyo, J., Christie, D.A., Garcia, E.F.J., Kirwan, G.M. & Boesman, P. (2019). Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52779 on 29 April 2019).

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Eurasian Spoonbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eurasian_Spoonbill

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