From Opus

Photo by Ingo
Kasai Rinkai Koen, Tokyo, Japan, November 2003

Platalea minor

[edit] Identification

76 cm. Smallish, white spoonbill with blackish bill and face.

[edit] Similar species

The Eurasian Spoonbill P. leucorodia is larger, has yellow tip to bill and white face.

[edit] Distribution

Platalea minor breeds on islets off the west coast of North Korea and South Korea, and Liaoning province in mainland China. Birds have been reported in the Tumen estuary of Russia, but breeding has not been proven. The three major wintering sites are the Tsengwen estuary of Taiwan (China) (562 individuals), the Deep Bay area of Hong Kong (China) (179 individuals), and the Red River delta, Vietnam (65 individuals). It also winters in Cheju, South Korea, Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, and Yancheng and Hainan, China, and there are recent records from Thailand, the Philippines and Macau (China). A minimum of 1069 individuals were counted by the 2003 International Black-faced Spoonbill Census, 10% more than in 2002.

[edit] Taxonomy

Photo by Neil
Hong Kong, China, February 2009

Monotypic.

[edit] Habitat

It breeds in mixed colonies on small islands. It winters on tidal mudflats.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

They nest on cliffs; 3 eggs are laid. The young fledge after 5 weeks.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes small fish, crabs and shrimp.

[edit] External Links