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Black-faced spoonbills reached a serious low in population in the 1990s, but by 2003 their numbers increased to at least 1,069 counted individuals. [5] While it is known that their breeding area covers northeastern China and several islands between North and South Korea, [6] human-assisted breeding efforts have not been overly successful due to the difficulty in sexing the black-faced ...
The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and have found the spoonbills to be nested within the Old World ibises, and the New World ibises as an early offshoot.
Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) Adults and juveniles are largely white with black outer wing-tips and dark bills and legs. Breeds in reed beds, usually without other species. Northeast of Africa and much of Eurasia from the British Isles across to Japan: Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) Closely related to Eurasian spoonbills.
The African spoonbill is almost unmistakable through most of its range. The breeding bird is all white except for its red legs and face and long grey spatulate bill. It has no crest, unlike the common spoonbill. Immature birds lack the red face and have a yellow bill. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched.
The royal spoonbill is a large, white bird with a black, spoon-shaped bill. It is approximately 80 cm (31 in) tall, 74–81 cm (29–32 in) and a weight of 1.4–2.07 kg (3.1–4.6 lb). [ 4 ] [ 5 ] It is a wading bird and has long legs for walking through water.
Straw-necked ibises are large birds, around 59–76 cm (23–30 in) long, with a bare black head and a long, downcurved black bill. They have a distinctive, highly iridescent plumage, which can appear fairly uniform dirty dark brown in indifferent light; [2] the wings are dark, with an iridescent, multicoloured sheen in sunlight.
Gulls are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with gray or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water.
A molecular phylogenetic study of the spoonbills based on mitochondrial DNA found that the Eurasian spoonbill is sister taxon to a clade containing the royal and black-faced spoonbills. [8] In England it was traditionally known as the "shovelard", a name later used for the northern shoveler. [9] Three subspecies are recognised. These are listed ...