African Spoonbill (Platalea alba)

Family
Threskiornithidae (Ibises, Spoonbills)

Size
90 cm

First Described (Guide)
Scopoli, 1786

Habitat
Large, shallow inland waters, including lakes and rivers, seasonal and permanent pans, marshes, flood plains, sewage works, reservoirs and artificial ponds. Less often occurring at coastal lagoons, salt-pans, creeks and estuaries.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Botswana (B), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea (B), Guinea-bissau (B), Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa (B), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Uganda, Zambia (B), Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Ghana, Oman, Yemen.

Senegal to Ethiopia, south to Cape Province; Madagascar.

Population
Estimated population is 11,000 - 110,000 (2010).

Status LC
Drainage of wetlands and destruction of breeding colonies are the main threats.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Carnivorous. Small fish and aquatic invertebrates, such as crayfish and water beetles.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (5)...)

African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) [XC429500]
by Lynette Rudman from Lake Manyara National Park, road loop to lake, Babati, Arusha, Tanzania (flight noise from wings)

African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) [XC530477]
by Tony Archer from Kruger Park (near Kruger National Park), Mopani, Limpopo, South Africa (call)

Nest
Flat oval platform composed of sticks and reeds situated over water on partly submerged trees, in bushes or reeds, on the ground on rocky islets or on rocky ledges. In colonies.

Subspecies
Considered by some to form superspecies with Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) and Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia).

No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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