Royal Spoonbill (Adult with young)

Description:

Large white waterbird with black, spatulate (spoon-shaped) bill, facial skin, legs and feet.

Habitat:

The Royal Spoonbill is most often seen wading in shallow waters, sweeping its submerged bill back and forth in a wide arc to find food.

Notes:

The structure of its bill limits it to feeding in water that is less than 40 cm deep over sand, mud or clay, where it can sweep the water with its bill. It uses several methods to catch food: slow sweeping from side to side with an open bill, rapid sweeping while walking fast or even running through the water, as well as dragging, probing or grabbing. The spatulate bill has many vibration detectors, called papillae, on the inside of the spoon, which means the bird can feel for prey items even in murky water and can feed by day or night. Once food is caught, it lifts its bill up and lets the items slide down its throat. It will bash shrimps against hard objects to remove their shells. The 3rd pic shows the adult feeding it's young. The young are often fed by both parents for several weeks after fledging and young birds will forage alongside their parents for some time before the family group disperses.