Fauna in Fuerteventura - The Common Spoonbill
’Platalea leucorodia’
An Article by DaveG with The Voice Fuerteventura
At the end of November last year, I was lucky enough to photograph this spoonbill in Barranco de Rio Cabras, near Puerto del Rosario.
When I checked the photo I noticed the leg tag. This gives some information about the bird. After writing to the authorities in Holland, they reported the bird was tagged in June, probably as a chick. So to my delight it had flown 2900 km south to Fuerteventura as part of its winter migration
COMMON SPOONBILL - WHAT TO LOOK FOR
These birds are easily identifiable with their long bill, and fly with neck outstretched, just like you can see in the photo.
COMMON SPOONBILL - NESTING
They breed in colonies and build nests made of twigs on the ground, or in trees and red beds. The male gathers nesting material, mostly sticks and reeds, sometimes taken from an old nest, which the female weaves it into a large, shallow bowl or platform which can vary in shape and structural integrity, according to species. The female lays a clutch of about three smooth, oval, white eggs and both parents incubate. The chicks hatch one at a time rather than all together. The newly hatched young are blind and cannot care for themselves immediately.
COMMON SPOONBILL - DIET
They eat a wide variety of insects, shrimp, crab, frogs and tiny fish. They move their long bill from side to side in the water to detect their food.
COMMON SPOONBILL - BREEDING
Breeding is normally in single species colonies or in small single species groups amidst mixed-species colonies of other water birds, such as herons, egrets and cormorants.
COMMON SPOONBILL - MIGRATION
Outside the breeding season Eurasian spoonbills forage singly or in small flocks of up to 100 individuals. Migration is usually conducted in flocks of up to 100 individuals.
Remember: Take only photographs, leave only footprints!