Just 15 years ago spoonbills were extinct as a breeding bird in the UK and hadn’t successfully nested here since 1668. Birds from mainland Europe did attempt to breed in 1997 but it wasn’t until 2010 that a successful nesting colony formed on the Norfolk coast. Now there are around 70 pairs in the country, with nests in Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Spoonbills are quite large, with wingspans of 115 to 135 centimetres and growing to weigh 1.1 to 2 kilos. They stand at almost a metre tall and aside from the white feathers that cover most of their bodies, have a couple of other striking features. These include a plume of white feathers from the back of their heads, a yellow throat in the nesting season and of course, a spoon shaped bill. Although it may look a bit cartoonlike, this bill is highly adapted with the tip being full of sensitive nerves to help them find their prey. To do this they move slowly through shallow water, constantly swishing their bills from side to side. When a small creature is detected, the bill slams shut, allowing the bird to lift and then swallow whatever it has caught. Their prey includes amphibians, crustaceans, invertebrates and even fish. Spoonbills will sometimes work together when feeding, moving in the same direction in a line.
Spoonbills begin to pair up from early march onwards, performing bill rubbing, grooming and sometimes splaying their head crest feathers. Once a pair has formed, males collect twigs which the females use to construct large platform nests, sometimes on islands but also in bushes or trees close to water and often alongside herons and cormorants. After the nest is complete and as long as there is plenty of food available, she will lay between 2 and 4 white eggs. This is usually around April but can be as late as June if there isnt enough food earlier in the year. Both adults incubate the eggs for 24 to 25 days when they fluffy white chicks will hatch. These are unofficially known as teaspoons and I am definitely in support of that becoming their official name. At first their bills are chunky but not spatula shaped, it takes around 2 weeks for them to gradually become so. Both parents feed the teaspoons in the nest and by 45 to 50 days, they are ready to fledge. Young birds stay with their parents for several months after fledging whilst they learn to fend for themselves and they may stay with them throughout the winter. It takes 3 to 4 years for Spoonbills to reach maturity and they often pick a new mate every year.
In some of their range spoonbills migrate far south for the winter, travelling to Portugal or even the west coast of Africa, but birds in the UK don’t tend to travel so far and will overwinter in the south of the country. Alongside our resident breeding birds, some that overwinter here migrate from northern Europe to do s, before mostly heading back in the spring. From early reports, its looking like 2024 has been a brilliant year for spoonbills with them nesting in new places and in greater numbers. Hopefully this will continue and more people will be able to see this exotic looking birds. There isnt much data on how long they live for, but captive birds have been known to live for more than 30 years.
#spoonbill #birdwatching #britishbirds

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