African Spoonbill

• It feeds by touch, not by sight: it walks along sweeping the water with its bill half open and snaps it shut the moment it brushes against prey.
• It is covered by the AEWA Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.
• Its colonies are usually single-species, unlike those of most colonial African wading birds.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Marshy wetlands with shallow, open water. It nests in colonies set in trees or reedbeds, and generally does not share a colony with storks or herons

Size at birth

A chick covered in white down, with a short bill: it does not take on the spoon shape until thirty days

Sexual maturity

About 3 years

Gestation / incubation

Up to 29 days, with both parents incubating. The chicks are tended by both parents for 20 to 30 days, leave the nest shortly afterwards and begin to fly about four weeks later

Litter / clutch size

3-5 eggs; some sources give clutches of 2-3

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Wikipedia (African spoonbill); Maryland Zoo (ficha de especie); Acuerdo AEWA sobre aves acuáticas migratorias afroeurasiáticas; Avibase

Best time: All year round in the wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar