Eurasian Spoonbill

The Eurasian Spoonbill is a striking white wading bird found across scattered wetlands from Western Europe through Asia and into parts of Africa. Its name comes from its long, flattened bill with a spoon-shaped tip, which it sweeps side to side through shallow water. In the breeding season it develops a loose crest of elongated nape feathers and a soft yellow wash across the upper breast, both of which disappear outside the breeding period.

• Body and flight feathers are entirely white, without the black wingtips seen in some other large white wading birds, so a found feather will typically be plain white throughout.
• Breeding crest feathers on the nape are long, narrow, and drooping, distinct in texture from the shorter, broader contour feathers of the body.
• Feather shafts are white to pale, without dark barring.
• The buff-yellow tinge sometimes present on breast feathers of breeding adults is subtle and can fade in worn or non-breeding plumage.
• Distinguish from egrets by feather shape (spoonbill body feathers tend to be somewhat stiffer) and from the pink-tinged Roseate Spoonbill, which does not occur in the same range.

Adults are all white, with breeding birds showing a shaggy nape crest and a pale yellow-buff wash on the breast, both lost after the breeding season. Sexes look alike, though males average slightly larger with a longer bill. Juveniles show black tips to the primary flight feathers and a pinkish rather than black bill, gradually acquiring the all-black, spoon-tipped adult bill and losing the dark wingtips over their first couple of years. Molt follows breeding, with flight feathers replaced gradually to maintain flying ability.

Eurasian Spoonbills breed locally across Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia, favoring shallow freshwater and brackish wetlands, reedbeds, and coastal lagoons. Northern and inland breeding populations are migratory, wintering in southern Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and South Asia, while some southern populations are largely resident.

This spoonbill feeds by wading through shallow water and sweeping its open, spoon-tipped bill side to side to detect small fish, crustaceans, and aquatic invertebrates by touch. It nests colonially, often alongside herons and egrets, building stick nests in reedbeds, low trees, or on the ground on predator-free islands. It is largely silent away from the colony, where it gives low grunting and bill-clattering displays. Flocks often fly in coordinated lines with necks outstretched, unlike the retracted-neck flight of herons.