Spoonbills could easily be mistaken for egrets since they are flawless white. But they are one of the easiest to identify. They are bigger with black legs and of course characteristic spoon shaped black colored bills that have yellow tips. The wide bill swoops through the water, it automatically snaps shut whenever it comes in contact with a food item which is then swallowed, long legs help to wade trough water. During the breeding season they carry a crest as also a yellow breast patch.
Infact the spoonbills are classified according to the region and they are found almost everywhere around the world with some variations. Eurasian spoonbills are the one that migrate to India and therefore commonly found in this subcontinent where they breed abundantly. African spoonbills in contrast have reddish face and legs. Roseate spoonbills found in American subcontinent are spectacular looking birds- rich pink, deepening in some parts into crimson, of nearly all its plumage, together with
the yellowish green of its bare head and lake-colored legs, is a must watch (this blogger has seen them only on Net). Royal spoonbills are found in Australia (the Maoris call it kotuku ngutu papa). In Britain till last century spoonbills were referred to as Shovelers. Spoonbills are closely related to ibis and storks. Many countries (more than 20 countries, that is amazing) have honored Spoonbills by coming out with stamps on them. Here one by Netherlands.
Spoonbills breed in societies, not only of their own kind, but in company of Herons and ibises, either on trees or in reed-beds, making large nests. They like most birds feed the young by regurgitation. They are found mostly near water bodies and marshy lands. The bird feeds actively in the mornings and evenings. The flock wades into shallow water and with outstretched necks, obliquely held partly open bills the birds move forward sweeping in a half circle from side to side raking up the bottom mud with the tip of its mandibles. They rest in afternoons and stay together and move about lethargically without feeding. At times they stand immobile. Most of them go to sleep standing on one leg twisting their pliant necks right round to bring the bill to rest in the pile of feathers covering their shoulders and backs. At times it is seen two birds stand side-by-side each resting its bill on the back of its neighbor!!. Quite a sight that one.
This painting tak
en from the Net done by John James Audubon. Audubon was legendary American Ornithologist (as also natural historian and painter). Infact he has been quoted by none other than Darwin in Origin of Species (what more can one say). Audubon’s Birds of America is considered as greatest examples of work of art. A contemporary French critic wrote, "A magic power transported us into the forests which for so many years this man of genius has trod. Learned and ignorant alike were astonished at the spectacle...". Audubon said once "I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could”. There is another line of his I came across in the net “A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”. Amazing man.
Trying disparately to watch Roseate spoonbills a nature photographer writes in his blogs: we discovered fro
m the book, a roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja), a large pink and white wading bird with a shovel-shaped yellow bill it uses to poke around in shallow water and mud looking for insects, crustaceans and small fish. It became the bird we most wanted to see. Over the next several years on visits to the Everglades, Corkscrew Swamp and numerous Florida state and county parks my birding wife spotted and pointed out to me practically every kind of egret, ibis, heron, sandpiper, tern, gull and woodpecker found in Florida along with bald eagles, owls, hawks, ducks, songbirds and anything else with feathers. She knows her birds, and, through her, I’m learning them too. The list grew: ruddy turnstone, scrub jay, pileated woodpecker, carolina wren… but no roseate spoonbill. Every year as we drove down to Florida we’d say to each other, maybe this year we’ll see a spoonbill. Every year… no luck. Once or twice a friend would claim to have spotted one. Did we believe the claim? Of course we did, but… Finally we began referring to it as “the mythical roseate spoonbill.”….
So then what happened?. Well… they had to wait for seven years to finally spot their Roseate Spoonbill. These are the kinds of stories legend of bird watching are made of.
Another incident from a blog here about a birdwatcher having a chuckle at somebody’s expense. While waiting for the Spoonbills to wander back my way I had a bit of a chuckle when some passersby stopped to ask if the pink birds were Flamingos. The driver seemed a bit put off when I replied "No, they are Roseate Spoonbills" by responding to my answer with disappointment in her voice, just saying "Oh" and driving on down the road. Too many plastic Flamingos in yards around the state, I guess.
Last one from a blog that indicates the impact spoonbills could have: I must admit that the spoonbills are amongst my favorite birds. Every time I see a spoonbill it gives me great pleasure. In fact, this species was in part responsible for me becoming a birder in the first place. Back in October 1977 I took my family camping to Chambers Gorge in the Flinders Ranges...
I couldn’t have agreed more they are such spectacular birds.
PS. In Hindi Spoonbills are referred to as chamach baz, chamach being spoon in Hindi. Snaps taken at Ranganathita near Mysore.
Here is a painting by Betty Salter 'Spoonbills on Waimea Estuary '
Infact the spoonbills are classified according to the region and they are found almost everywhere around the world with some variations. Eurasian spoonbills are the one that migrate to India and therefore commonly found in this subcontinent where they breed abundantly. African spoonbills in contrast have reddish face and legs. Roseate spoonbills found in American subcontinent are spectacular looking birds- rich pink, deepening in some parts into crimson, of nearly all its plumage, together with
the yellowish green of its bare head and lake-colored legs, is a must watch (this blogger has seen them only on Net). Royal spoonbills are found in Australia (the Maoris call it kotuku ngutu papa). In Britain till last century spoonbills were referred to as Shovelers. Spoonbills are closely related to ibis and storks. Many countries (more than 20 countries, that is amazing) have honored Spoonbills by coming out with stamps on them. Here one by Netherlands.Spoonbills breed in societies, not only of their own kind, but in company of Herons and ibises, either on trees or in reed-beds, making large nests. They like most birds feed the young by regurgitation. They are found mostly near water bodies and marshy lands. The bird feeds actively in the mornings and evenings. The flock wades into shallow water and with outstretched necks, obliquely held partly open bills the birds move forward sweeping in a half circle from side to side raking up the bottom mud with the tip of its mandibles. They rest in afternoons and stay together and move about lethargically without feeding. At times they stand immobile. Most of them go to sleep standing on one leg twisting their pliant necks right round to bring the bill to rest in the pile of feathers covering their shoulders and backs. At times it is seen two birds stand side-by-side each resting its bill on the back of its neighbor!!. Quite a sight that one.
This painting tak
en from the Net done by John James Audubon. Audubon was legendary American Ornithologist (as also natural historian and painter). Infact he has been quoted by none other than Darwin in Origin of Species (what more can one say). Audubon’s Birds of America is considered as greatest examples of work of art. A contemporary French critic wrote, "A magic power transported us into the forests which for so many years this man of genius has trod. Learned and ignorant alike were astonished at the spectacle...". Audubon said once "I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could”. There is another line of his I came across in the net “A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”. Amazing man.Trying disparately to watch Roseate spoonbills a nature photographer writes in his blogs: we discovered fro
m the book, a roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja), a large pink and white wading bird with a shovel-shaped yellow bill it uses to poke around in shallow water and mud looking for insects, crustaceans and small fish. It became the bird we most wanted to see. Over the next several years on visits to the Everglades, Corkscrew Swamp and numerous Florida state and county parks my birding wife spotted and pointed out to me practically every kind of egret, ibis, heron, sandpiper, tern, gull and woodpecker found in Florida along with bald eagles, owls, hawks, ducks, songbirds and anything else with feathers. She knows her birds, and, through her, I’m learning them too. The list grew: ruddy turnstone, scrub jay, pileated woodpecker, carolina wren… but no roseate spoonbill. Every year as we drove down to Florida we’d say to each other, maybe this year we’ll see a spoonbill. Every year… no luck. Once or twice a friend would claim to have spotted one. Did we believe the claim? Of course we did, but… Finally we began referring to it as “the mythical roseate spoonbill.”….So then what happened?. Well… they had to wait for seven years to finally spot their Roseate Spoonbill. These are the kinds of stories legend of bird watching are made of.
Another incident from a blog here about a birdwatcher having a chuckle at somebody’s expense. While waiting for the Spoonbills to wander back my way I had a bit of a chuckle when some passersby stopped to ask if the pink birds were Flamingos. The driver seemed a bit put off when I replied "No, they are Roseate Spoonbills" by responding to my answer with disappointment in her voice, just saying "Oh" and driving on down the road. Too many plastic Flamingos in yards around the state, I guess.
Last one from a blog that indicates the impact spoonbills could have: I must admit that the spoonbills are amongst my favorite birds. Every time I see a spoonbill it gives me great pleasure. In fact, this species was in part responsible for me becoming a birder in the first place. Back in October 1977 I took my family camping to Chambers Gorge in the Flinders Ranges...
I couldn’t have agreed more they are such spectacular birds.
PS. In Hindi Spoonbills are referred to as chamach baz, chamach being spoon in Hindi. Snaps taken at Ranganathita near Mysore.
Here is a painting by Betty Salter 'Spoonbills on Waimea Estuary '