All species › Pelicans, herons and ibises › Ibises and spoonbills › Eurasian Spoonbill
Eurasian Spoonbill
Platalea leucorodia | Lepelaar | Espátula común
The Spoonbill is the white wader carrying an unmistakable tool on its face, sweeping it through shallow water like a sieve. The Netherlands carries real responsibility for it, since the Wadden Sea and Delta hold the core of the north-west European population.
Voice
Almost always silent, including on migration. At the colony from April to June it produces low grunting and groaning notes and dry bill-clattering, while begging young give hoarse, wheezing squeals. Away from the colony you will hear essentially nothing.
Recording: Joost van Bruggen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Identification
Entirely white, with a long black bill flaring into a yellow spatula and black legs. Breeding adults show a yellow-buff breast band and a shaggy yellow nuchal crest. In flight the neck is outstretched and slightly drooped, with alternating flapping and gliding, often in lines or V-formations. Juveniles have black primary tips and a smooth pinkish bill.
Confusion species
Great White and Little Egret are also white, but fly with the neck retracted and have dagger bills; Little Egret gives itself away with yellow feet. A resting Spoonbill with the bill buried in its back feathers looks exactly like an egret, so wait for it to lift its head. The scything feeding action is unique.
Habitat
Shallow brackish or salt water holding shrimps, sticklebacks and gobies: tidal creeks, coastal lagoons, saltmarsh and saltpans. Breeds colonially on predator-free islands, in standing reed or low in trees and bushes.
Range and movements
The Netherlands holds a large share of the north-west European breeders, on the Wadden islands and in the Delta. Migration follows the Atlantic coast to Iberia and Mauritania; thousands winter in Spain in Doñana and the Bay of Cádiz, where the species also breeds.
- Resident
- Breeding (summer)
- Winter
- Passage
- Migration direction
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
Where and when to look
April to August on the Wadden islands. On a rising tide find shallow creeks and watch birds walking forward with the spoon held open, sweeping side to side; at high water they roost in tight groups on the saltmarsh with heads tucked in.
Conservation status
Strongly recovered once colonies were protected and water quality improved. Mainland colonies are being emptied by fox predation, and in the longer term drought in the Spanish wintering grounds and the loss of shallow, food-rich water are the main worries.