Spoonbills are a genus,Platalea, of large, long-legged wadingbirds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus namePlatalea derives fromAncient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera.
All spoonbills have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side. The moment any small aquatic creature touches the inside of the bill—aninsect,crustacean, or tinyfish—it is snapped shut. Spoonbills generally prefer fresh water to salt but are found in both environments. They need to feed many hours each day.
They have traditionally been thought to form one of two subfamilies,Plataleinae, in the familyThreskiornithidae, which also includes theibises (Threskiornithinae). Molecular studies, including a 2013 study, have suggested instead that they form a clade within the family with several cosmopolitan ibis genera, separate from another clade of New World ibises.[5]
A 2010 study ofmitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that theroseate andyellow-billed spoonbills were each other's closest relative, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genusPlatalea or alternatively for two of the species to be placed in monotypic genera named asPlatibis andAjaja. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.[6]
Spoonbills are most easily distinguished from ibises in the shape of their bill, which is long and flat and wider at the end. The nostrils are located near the base of the bill so that the bird can breathe while the bill is submerged in water. The eyes are positioned to provide spoonbills with binocular vision, although, when foraging, tactile senses are important too. Like ibises, spoonbills have bare patches of skin around the bill and eyes.[7]
Spoonbills aremonogamous, but, so far as is known, only for one season at a time. Most species nest intrees orreed beds, often with ibises orherons. The male gathers nesting material—mostly sticks and reeds, sometimes taken from an old nest—the female weaves it into a large, shallow bowl or platform which varies in its shape and structural integrity according to species.
The female lays a clutch of about three smooth, oval, white eggs and both parents incubate; chicks hatch one at a time rather than all together. The newly hatched young are blind and cannot care for themselves immediately; both parents feed them by partialregurgitation. Chicks' bills are short and straight, and only gain the characteristic spoonbill shape as they mature. Their feeding continues for a few weeks longer after the family leaves the nest. The primary cause of brood failure appears not to bepredation but starvation.
A large white species similar to Eurasian spoonbill, from which it can be distinguished by its pink face and usually paler bill. Its food includesinsects and other small creatures, and it nests in trees, marshes or rocks.
^Chesser, R.Terry; Yeung, Carol K.L.; Yao, Cheng-Te; Tians, Xiu-Hua; Li Shou-Hsien (2010). "Molecular phylogeny of the spoonbills (Aves: Threskiornithidae) based on mitochondrial DNA".Zootaxa.2603 (2603):53–60.doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2603.1.2.ISSN1175-5326.
