SPOONBILLS OF AUSTRALIA

WHAT ARE SPOONBILLS?
Spoonbills are long-legged, wading birds, in the genus Platalea, family Threskiornithidae and order Ciconiiformes. They all have distinctive spoon-shaped bills, coloured yellowish, black or greyish. There are six species of spoonbill, with two species found in Australia. Both are native to Australia, and one is endemic to Australia as well.

Two royal spoonbills out at the Western Treatment Plant, where they are fairly common

A yellow-billed spoonbill, also at the Western Treatment Plant

ROYAL SPOONBILL Platalea regia
Also known as the black-billed spoonbill, this bird can be found in freshwater and saltwater wetlands in Australia, as well as parts of New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It feeds on crustaceans, fish and small insects, which it catches by sweeping its bill from side to side in the water, while walking and kicking up debris and small animals. It senses these animals with its bill, then swallows them. These are large, white birds, with black, spoon-shaped bills. In breeding plumage long white plumes grow from the back of the royal spoonbills' head, and coloured patches appear on its face. The nest is an open platform of sticks, placed in a tree. Two or three eggs are laid.
YELLOW-BILLED SPOONBILL Platalea flavipes
The yellow-billed spoonbill is endemic to Australia, and can also be found in wetlands. It is a rare vagrant to New Zealand, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. It grows to about 90 centimetres long, with a white body, pale yellow legs and a similarly coloured bill. Like all spoonbills, it has a bill shaped like a spoon. It is closely related to the roseate spoonbill, a species found in parts of North, Central and South America. Like the royal spoonbill, it feeds on crustaceans, fish and small insects by sweeping its bill from side to side. It also builds a platform of sticks for a nest, which has a hollowed center and is normally on the branches or fork of a tree. The tree often has a submerged base. Reedbeds are also sometimes used as nesting locations. The nests are often in colonies with Australian white ibises, straw-necked ibises, herons, egrets, cormorants and royal spoonbills. Two to four dull white eggs are laid.