African Spoonbill
Platalea alba
Wetlands. White with red face; red and grey spatulate bill; red legs.
Ibises, Spoonbills
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Fairly common resident. Distinguished from other white waterbirds by pink legs and pink, spoon-shaped bill. Wings and head of Immatureare streaked brown. Occurs singly or in groups on seasonal pans, floodplains, dams, lagoons and rivers. It feeds by moving its partially open bill in a sideways action below water. It breeds colonially in reed beds or in trees. Nomadic when not breeding.
Quick Facts
Size
91 cm - VL
Names
A: Lepelaar
Z: isiXulamasele
Ss: Molomokgaba
G: Afrikanischer Löffler
Bird Family
Fairly large birds with longish legs. Ibises have long, decurved bills for probing in the ground for insects, worms and other invertebrates, as well as small reptiles and mammals on occasion. Spoonbills have spatulate bills used to catch small fish and aquatic invertebrates. All but the Hadeda Ibis are normally silent.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Occurs singly or in groups on seasonal pans, floodplains, dams, lagoons and rivers. It breeds colonially in reed beds or in trees.
