{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | year =2019 | title = ''Platalea leucorodia'' | amends = 2016 | article-number = e.T22697555A155460986 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22697555A155460986.en | access-date = 21 March 2022}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A2 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref> | image = Eurasian Spoonbill-2.jpg | image_caption=Adult in breeding plumage | taxon = Platalea leucorodia | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | range_map = PlataleaLeucorodiaIUCN.svg | range_map_caption = Distribution {{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding (locally also wintering)|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Wintering|outline=gray}} }} The '''Eurasian spoonbill''' ('''''Platalea leucorodia'''''), or '''common spoonbill''', is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, native to Europe, Africa and Asia. The species is partially migratory with the more northerly breeding populations mostly migrating south for the winter.
==Taxonomy== The Eurasian spoonbill was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the current binomial name ''Platalea leucorodia''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=139 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727044 }}</ref> Linnaeus cited works by earlier authors including the description and illustration by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin that was published in 1734.<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Albin | first1=Eleazar | author1-link=Eleazar Albin | last2=Derham | first2=William | author2-link=William Derham | year=1734 | title=A Natural History of Birds: Illustrated with a Hundred and One Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life | volume=2 | page=61, Plate 66 | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author and sold by William Innys | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41130767 }}</ref> Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but restricted it to Sweden in 1761.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1761 | title=Fauna svecica, sistens animalia sveciae regni mammalia, aves amphibia, pisces, insecta, vermes | edition=2nd | location=Stockholmiae | publisher=Sumtu & Literis Direct. Laurentii Salvii | language=Latin | page=57 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32170526 }}</ref><ref name=mayr>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=267 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108907 }}</ref> The genus name ''Platalea'' is Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill; the specific epithet ''leucorodia'' is from Ancient Greek {{Lang|grc-Latn|leukerodios}} meaning "spoonbill", itself derived from {{Lang|grc-Latn|leukos}}, "white" and {{Lang|grc-Latn|erodios}} "heron".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n157/mode/1up 157], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n309/mode/1up 309]}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Chesser2010/> In England it was traditionally known as the "shovelard", a name later used for the northern shoveler.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Lockwood | first=William Burley | author-link=William Burley Lockwood | date=1993 | orig-date=1984 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of British Bird Names | edition=2nd | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-866196-2 | page=139 }}</ref>
Three subspecies are recognised. These are listed below with their breeding ranges.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 July 2024 }}</ref> * ''P. l. leucorodia'' Linnaeus, 1758 – Europe to north China, India and Sri Lanka * ''P. l. balsaci'' Naurois & Roux, F, 1974 – west Mauritania * ''P. l. archeri'' Neumann, 1928 – coasts of the Red Sea and Somalia
The royal spoonbill (''Platalea regia'') was formerly considered as a subspecies.<ref name=mayr/> Birds in Asia were sometimes separated as ''P. l. major''.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last1=Matheu | first1=E. | last2=del Hoyo | first2=J. | year=1992 | chapter=Family Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Ostrich to Ducks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=84-87334-10-5 | pages=472–507 [504–505] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/504/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>
==Description== thumb|left|Eurasian spoonbill video This species is almost unmistakable in most of its range. The breeding bird is all white except for its dark legs, black bill with a yellow tip, and a yellow breast patch like a pelican. It has a crest in the breeding season. Non-breeders lack the crest and breast patch, and immature birds have a pale bill and black tips to the primary flight feathers. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. The Eurasian spoonbill differs from the African spoonbill with which in overlaps in winter, in that the latter species has a red face and legs, and no crest.
They are mostly silent. Even at their breeding colonies the main sounds are bill snapping, occasional deep grunting and occasional trumpeting noises.
==Distribution and habitat== left|thumb|270x270px|Common spoonbill in Danube Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine thumb|In breeding plumage, Spain This species is found widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. In Europe, it breeds from the United Kingdom and Portugal in the west, locally through the continent; ranging north to Denmark and east to the Balkans and the Black Sea. In Asia, it breeds in a broad band across the central part of the continent, from the Black Sea to the Korean Peninsula, as well as Kuwait, southern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. In Africa, it breeds locally in coastal Mauritania, but more widely along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts. Whereas those breeding in warmer parts of Asia, in Africa and the Iberian Peninsula are resident or only move locally, more northern breeders generally migrate south to winter in southwestern Europe, the northern half of Africa or warm parts of Asia. However, some northern birds do remain in the general region during the winter, including the United Kingdom, the Low Countries and France.<ref name=IUCN/><ref>{{cite web|title=Spoonbill|url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/spoonbill/|publisher=RSPB|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> Outside of its normal range, they have been recorded as a rare vagrant in Ireland, Belarus, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, the Canary Islands, Greenland, Nigeria, Uganda, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados, and Saint Lucia.<ref name="IUCN" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-02 |title=ML608982945 - Eurasian Spoonbill - Macaulay Library |url=https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/608982945 |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=macaulaylibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-04-01 |title=ML42497421 - Eurasian Spoonbill - Macaulay Library |url=https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/42497421 |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=macaulaylibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-11-13 |title=ML108058531 - Eurasian Spoonbill - Macaulay Library |url=https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/108058531 |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=macaulaylibrary.org}}</ref>
Eurasian spoonbills show a preference for extensive, shallow wetlands with muddy clay or fine, sandy beds. They may inhabit any type of marsh, river, lake, floodplain or mangrove swamp, be it fresh, brackish or saline water. They are especially attracted to locations with undisturbed islands for nesting and habitats with dense, riparian-emergent vegetation (e.g. reedbeds) and scattered trees/shrubs, especially willow ''Salix'' spp., oak ''Quercus ''spp. or poplar ''Populus'' spp. Eurasian spoonbills may also frequent sheltered marine habitats during the winter, such as deltas, estuaries, tidal creeks and coastal lagoons.<ref name=IUCN/>
==Behaviour and ecology== ===Breeding=== [[File:Eurasian Spoonbill Walking Ranganathittu Karnataka Jan24 A7C 09151.jpg|thumb|left|Migrant breeding in Ranganathittu, south India]] [[File:Platalea leucorodia MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.61.1.jpg|thumb|Museum specimen - île Kiji, Mauritania]] In the Palearctic, the species breeds in spring (e.g. from April) but in tropical parts of its range it times breeding to coincide with rainfall. Breeding is normally in single species colonies or in small single species groups amidst mixed-species colonies of other waterbirds such as herons, egrets and cormorants. Most activity takes place during the morning and evening (although in coastal areas foraging is governed by tidal rhythms), they often roost communally in roosts which are up to {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on}} away from the feeding areas.<ref name=IUCN/>
The nest is a platform of sticks and vegetation which is either constructed on the ground on islands in lakes and rivers or in dense stands of reeds, bushes, mangroves or deciduous trees up to {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the ground. Within colonies neighbouring nests are usually quite close together, no more than {{convert|1|or|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} apart. Breeding colonies are normally sited within {{convert|10|–|15|km|mi|abbr=on}} of feeding areas, often much less (although the species may also feed up to {{convert|35|–|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} away).<ref name=IUCN/>
===Migration=== More northerly breeding populations are fully migratory but may only migrate short distances while other, more southerly populations are resident and nomadic or partially migratory. Migration is usually conducted in flocks of up to 100 individuals. As several bird species, the spoonbills spent some days in stopover sites during migration. Spoonbills wintering in Africa, and facing long-distance travel stay for longer in a stopover site spoonbills that perform a shorter migration.<ref name=Navedo2010/> Stay duration is also determined by population size.<ref name=Drever2025/>
===Food and feeding=== The diet consists of aquatic insects, mollusks, newts, crustaceans, worms, leeches, frogs, tadpoles and small fish up to {{convert|10|–|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. It may also take algae or small fragments of aquatic plants (although these are possibly ingested accidentally with animal matter).<ref name=IUCN/> They use sideways sweeps of their beaks to filter out the tiny fish and shrimps.<ref>Attenborough, D. 1998 ''The Life of Birds.'' BBC books.{{ISBN|0563 38792 0}}</ref>
==Conservation== Overall, the Eurasian spoonbill is not threatened and the total global population was estimated at 63–65,000 mature birds in 2015.<ref name=IUCN/> In Europe, the population experienced a significant decrease between 1960 and 1990,<ref>{{cite book| title=Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status | year=2004 | publisher=BirdLife International | isbn=978-0-946888-52-8 }}</ref> but since then it has been increasing and was estimated to number {{circa}} 29,000 mature birds in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=European Red List of Birds|url=https://www.birdlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BirdLife-European-Red-List-of-Birds-2021.pdf|publisher=BirdLife Europe|date=1 August 2021|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> For example, in the Netherlands, the population had reached a low point of less than 150 breeding pairs in 1968, but due to better habitat protection and bans of toxins like DDT it rapidly increased from the 1980s, reaching almost 3000 pairs by 2015.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Lok | first1=T. | last2=Overdijk | first2=O. | last3=Horn | first3=H. | last4=Piersma | first4=T. | year=2009 | title=De lepelaarpopulatie van de Waddenkomt het einde van de groei in zicht? | journal=Limosa | volume=82 | pages=149–157 }}</ref><ref name=Oudman2017>{{cite journal | last1=Oudman | first1=T. | last2=de Goeij | first2=P. | last3=Piersma | first3=T. | last4=Lok | first4=T. | year=2017 | title=Colony-breeding Eurasian Spoonbills in The Netherlands: local limits to population growth with expansion into new areas | journal=Ardea | volume=105 | issue=2 | pages=113–124 | doi=10.5253/arde.v105i2.a2 | s2cid=90180890 | url=http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/16/309316.pdf }}</ref> Up to the early 2000s, in Europe only the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Greece had sizeable breeding populations.<ref name=Overdijk2002p88/> The northernmost part of the Eurasian spoonbill's range is in Denmark where the first known breeding was in 1900. Through the 1900s, this breeding population was small and highly irregular, including long periods with none.<ref name=Nyegaard2014>{{cite journal | last1=Nyegaard | first1=T. | last2=Meltofte | first2=H. | last3=Tofft | first3=J. | last4=Grell | first4=M.B. | year=2014 | title=Truede og sjældne ynglefugle i Danmark 1998-2012 | url=https://pub.dof.dk/artikler/650/download/doft-108-2014-1-144-truede-og-sjaeldne-ynglefugle-i-danmark-1998-2012 | journal=Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift | volume=108 | issue=1 }}</ref><ref name=Holm2020>{{cite web| last=Holm | first=TS | display-authors=etal | title=Fugle 2018-2019, NOVANA | url=https://dce2.au.dk/pub/SR420.pdf | year=2020 | publisher=Aarhus University | access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> The species became more thoroughly established in Denmark in 1996 (where a few birds, likely from the Netherlands, arrived and began breeding) and its population has since rapidly increased with multiple colonies; first passing 100 pairs in 2011,<ref name=Holm2020/> and with almost 600 pairs as of 2021.<ref>{{cite web|title=Varmere klima sender flere fuglearter nordpå til Danmark|url=https://www.dof.dk/om-dof/nyheder?nyhed_id=2072|publisher=Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (Danish Ornithological Society)|date=18 June 2022|access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> It is likely that this northward spread has been aided by increasing temperatures.<ref name="DK Spoonbill">{{cite web|title=Mange skestorke flokkes i det våde danske sommerland|url=https://www.dof.dk/om-dof/nyheder?nyhed_id=1574|publisher=Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (Danish Ornithological Society)|date=26 July 2017|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, it was extirpated around 1668, although in the previous century it had been a widespread breeding species in southern England and Wales, even near London.<ref name=naturalengland/> There were breeding attempts again in the mid-1990s, with the first successful breeding in 1998.<ref name=Unwin2000/><ref name=BG2020>{{cite web|title=Focus on: Eurasian Spoonbill|url=https://www.birdguides.com/articles/species-profiles/focus-on-eurasian-spoonbill/|publisher=BirdGuides|date=2 July 2020|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> This culminated with the formation of a small colony of 6 breeding pairs at Holkham in Norfolk in 2010. In 2011, 8 breeding pairs nested, successfully fledging 14 young, and in 2018 the colony had increased to 28 breeding pairs.<ref name=naturalengland/><ref name=BG2020/>
Threats to the Eurasian spoonbill include habitat loss and degradation by drainage and pollution, it is especially adversely affected by the disappearance of reed swamps. In Greece disturbance from fishing once caused the population to decline, and human exploitation of eggs and nestlings for food has threatened the species in the past.<ref name=IUCN/> Breeding colonies are highly vulnerable to general disturbances and predators like red fox.<ref name="DK Spoonbill"/><ref name=BG2020/> Consequently, colonies are often restricted to islands free of ground predators;<ref name=Nyegaard2014/> however, in some places, pairs in mainland colonies may breed successfully by nesting off the ground in trees and bushes.<ref name=Oudman2017/>
The research network Eurasian Spoonbill International Expert Group was formed in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unep-aewa.org/en/workinggroup/aewa-international-species-expert-groups-iseg|title=AEWA International Species Expert Groups (ISEG) | AEWA}}</ref> It made an action plan for the bird in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unep-aewa.org/en/publication/international-single-species-action-plan-conservation-eurasian-spoonbill-complete-ts|title = International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill (Complete) (TS No.35) | AEWA}}</ref> In 2013 the group joined the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Junge Löffler im Nest.JPG|Nestlings File:SL Bundala NP asv2020-01 img06.jpg|Immature Eurasian spoonbill, Bundala National Park File:Spoonbill from the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland.jpg|ID composite File:Platalea Leucorodia in Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus 1726 by Marsigli.jpg|1726 drawing by Jacobus Houbraken File:Hieronymus Bosch 024.jpg|Hieronymus Bosch: ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'', 15th century File:NIEdot374.jpg|New International Encyclopedia, 1902 </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Chesser2010>{{cite journal |last1=Chesser |first1=R. Terry |last2=Yeung |first2=Carol K.L. |last3=Yao |first3=Cheng-Te |last4=Tians |first4=Xiu-Hua |last5=Li |first5=Shou-Hsien |year=2010 |title=Molecular phylogeny of the spoonbills (Aves: Threskiornithidae) based on mitochondrial DNA |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2603 |issue=2603 |pages=53–60 |issn=1175-5326 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/list/2010/2603.html|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2603.1.2 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
<ref name=Drever2025>{{cite journal |last1=Drever |first1=M.C. |last2=Bautista-Sopelana |first2=L.M. |last3=Alonso |first3=J.C. |last4=Navedo |first4=J.G. |last5=Hrachowitz |first5=M. |year=2025 |title=Modelling migration dynamics of Common Cranes and Eurasian Spoonbills as hydrological flow |journal=Ibis |volume=167 |issue=4 |pages=962–978 |url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/400536/1/Drever_Ibis167_p962_2025.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name=naturalengland>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2011/120911.aspx |title=Breeding spoonbills return to Holkham |date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140605090108/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2011/120911.aspx |archive-date=5 June 2014 }}</ref>
<ref name=Navedo2010>{{cite journal |last1=Navedo |first1=J.G. |last2=Orizaola |first2=G. |last3=Masero |first3=J.A. |last4=Overdijk |first4=O. |title=Long-distance travellers stopover for longer: a case study with spoonbills staying in North Iberia | journal=Journal of Ornithology |year=2010 |volume=151 |issue=4 |pages=915–921 |doi=10.1007/s10336-010-0530-z}}</ref>
<ref name=Overdijk2002p88>{{cite book |last=Overdijk |first=O. |year=2002 |chapter=Lepelaar ''Platalea leucorodia'' |page=88 |title=Atlas van de Nederlandse Broedvogels 1998–2000 |series=Nederlandse Fauna 5 |trans-title=Atlas of the Breeding Birds of the Netherlands |language=nl |publisher=Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, KNNV Uitgeverij & European Invertebrate Survey-Nederland |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-5011-161-4}}</ref>
<ref name=Unwin2000>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/spoonbills-return-to-breed-in-the-uk-after-300-years-710261.html |work=The Independent |first=Brian |last=Unwin |date=27 August 2000 |location=London |title=Spoonbills return to breed in the UK after 300 years}}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons category|Platalea leucorodia}} {{Wikispecies|Platalea leucorodia}} * {{BirdLife|22697555|Platalea leucorodia}} * {{Avibase|name=Platalea leucorodia}} * {{EBirdSpecies|eurspo1|Eurasian Spoonbill}} * {{VIREO|Eurasian+spoonbill}} * {{IUCN_Map|22697555/166323490|Platalea leucorodia}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Platalea|leucorodia|Eurasian spoonbill}}
{{Threskiornithidae}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q171360}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Platalea Category:Birds of Eurasia Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Birds described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus