White spoonbill belongs to the genus of birds of the stork family Ibis family, its Dutch national bird, because the mouth is very similar to the pipa and named, white spoonbill belongs to large wading birds, its body length is 70-95 cm, body length is about 2 kg, white spoonbill's beak is straight and flat up and down, and expanded to form a spade or key-shaped, very similar to a pipa, very interesting, white spoonbill's beak is mainly black, only the tip of the beak is yellow, white spoonbill's iris is dark yellow, long feet are black.
The plumage of the white spoonbill is also divided into summer feathers and winter feathers, summer feathers are white around the body, the back neck has a long orange-yellow filamentous crown feathers, the color is orange-yellow, the lower part of the front neck has an orange-yellow neck ring, the forehead and upper throat are bare, no feathers, the color is orange-yellow, the winter feathers are similar to the summer feathers, but the back occipital part does not have a crown feather, and the front neck does not have an orange-yellow neck ring.
White spoonbill summer feathers
White spoonbill winter feathers
White spoonbill is mainly distributed in southern Europe and Asia, a few are distributed in Africa, breeding grounds in Europe, limited to the Netherlands and Spain, white spoonbill usually inhabits rivers, lakes, reservoirs and their shallow waters in open plains and mountainous hilly areas, but also some inhabit reed swamp wetlands, coastal swamps, coastal mangroves, river valley alluvial lands and estuarine deltas and other ecological environments, and a very small part inhabits rocky waters and lush wetlands at the bottom of rivers. White spoonbill mainly feeds on shrimp, crabs, aquatic insects, insect larvae, worms, crustaceans, molluscs, as well as lizards and small fish, etc., and occasionally eats a small amount of plant food, it is generally eaten in the early morning and dusk, occasionally foraging at night, it feeds in shallow water areas no deeper than 30 cm high, and the populations that inhabit the seaside often feed in the tidal zone and the estuary of the river.
White spoonbills foraging is not through the eyes to see directly prey on visible food, but generally walking in shallow water, while opening the mouth, reaching into the water left and right and constantly sweeping, when encountering prey, immediately catch, some white spoonbills also like to put their mouths aside, dragging their mouths to quickly run for food, the appearance is very peculiar, white spoonbills are very alert by nature, very afraid of people, usually in groups of activities, occasionally visible individual activities, rest time often spread out at the water's edge, standing still for a long time, Frightened, they flew elsewhere.
When the white spoonbill is flying, it will quickly encourage the two wings, the average frequency of flapping the wings can reach more than a hundred times, the white spoonbill can not only drum wings to fly, but also use the hot air flow to glide, and usually the drum wings and gliding alternately, the white spoonbill in the flight, the feet stretched back, the head and neck straight forward, the white spoonbill in the flight in a sparse single row, or wavy oblique flight. White spoonbills on the mainland are usually mainly resident birds, generally not migratory and usually have a breeding period from May to July every year, and often make a pig-like "hum" sound between breeders, which is very interesting.
White spoonbills like to live in groups, from a few to nearly a hundred, sometimes with herons, spoonbills and other birds in mixed groups nesting, white spoonbills like to build nests in thick reeds, grass and other emergent plants and nearby shrubs or trees in waters and their vicinity, white spoonbills usually lay 3-4 eggs per clutch, occasionally as few as 2, usually 2-3 days apart to lay an egg, the incubation work is shared by both males and females, but usually only incubate eggs at night.