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5

Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) Alternate name(s): "Yellow-legged Spoonbill" Size: 75-90 cm Weight: 1.7-2.0 kg

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Yellow-billed Spoonbills are medium-sized aquatic birds with an all-white plumage. Their most distinguishing feature is the spoon-shaped bill. Bill, legs and feet are yellow. During the breeding season they have white frontal hackles and black, filamentary plumes on the inner secondaries. The grey, black-edged facial mask is also more pronounced during the breeding season than in eclipse.

Taxonomy, classification See Yellow-billed Spoonbill at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Yellow-billed Spoonbill is available HERE . Yellow-billed Spoonbills are endemic to Australia. They populate most of the Australian continent, including Tasmania, with the exception of the major deserts of the interior, i.e. the eastern half of WA, the western half of SA and the south-eastern corner of the NT. In other parts of the semi-arid interior they are present only when there is sufficient surface water, normally after major rainfall events. Yellow-billed Spoonbills are found only in freshwater habitats, in shallow water around freshwater lakes and in billabongs, but also in large, shallow irrigation dams.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We see Yellow-billed Spoonbills regularly, but always in small numbers, in the area of Narrabri, NSW. There were several sightings in the Narrabri area after the significant rainfalls of May/June 2007 and January/February 2008, e.g. at Narrabri Lake. Seen also at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri in July 2008. Spotted semi-regularly in inland NSW in the years since. C. Hayne reports that Yellow-billed Spoonbills breed regularly at Whittaker's Lagoon, 20 km West of Moree, NSW. J. Greaves reports spotting Yellow-billed Spoonbills at Lake Herdsman, Perth, WA, in August 2015. They were also found there by C. Pears in July 2022 and in August 2023. C. Pears also reports finding Yellow-billed Spoonbills semi-regularly in Quindalup, WA. J. Greaves also found Yellow-billed Spoonbills on Kangaroo Island, SA, in March 2016. R. Plumtreereports spotting a Yellow-billed Spoonbill at Clifton, Bairnsdale, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in emerging breeding plumage gobbling up its prey (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Lake Herdsman, Perth, WA, August 2023]

Near-frontal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in emerging breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Lake Herdsman, Perth, WA, August 2023]

Close-up near-lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in partial breeding plumage feeding in murky water
[Tiger Bay wetlands, Warren, NSW, April 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in breeding plumage (note the spiny feathers and black tendrils) roosting in a dead tree in a swamp
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, August 2013]

Lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Herdsman Lake, Perth, WA, July 2022]

Lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in breeding plumage on a river bank
[Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Close-up lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in partial breeding plumage
[Tiger Bay wetlands, Warren, NSW, April 2017

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

This Yellow-billed Spoonbill already had its breeding plumage in June 2011, in the middle of winter in inland NSW
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2011]

Yellow-billed Spoonbills in worn breeding plumage at the end of the breeding season, resting in shallow water with their offspring
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, March 2018]

Dorsal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in flight
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2011]

This Yellow-billed Spoonbill was seen just before touchdown
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2011]

Yellow-billed Spoonbill in direct comparison with a Royal Spoonbill (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2020]

NON-BREEDING

Full-frontal view of a resting Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage
[Pilliga, NSW, July 2018]

Frontal view of Yellow-billed Spoonbills in non-breeding plumage
[Pilliga, NSW, February 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill, right, and a Royal Spoonbill, both in non-breeding plumage
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2011]

Lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage; note the dull colours of the facial mask and the scarcity of hackles and tendrils
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, June 2011]

Dorsal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Herdsman Lake, Perth, WA, August 2015]

Dorsal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage, now with a friendly smile for the photographer
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Herdsman Lake, Perth, WA, August 2015]

Three Yellow-billed Spoonbills roosting together with one Royal Spoonbill
[Yarrie Lake, near Wee Waa, NSW, May 2013]

Lateral view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage in flight
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, September 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in non-breeding plumage gliding above water
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Direct comparison between a Yellow-billed Spoonbill (front right) and a Royal Spoonbill, both in non-breeding plumage
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2011]

Yellow-billed Spoonbill (left) and White-necked Heron, both in non-breeding plumage, both looking pinkish, either because of new feathers or possibly from contact with red algae (the photo was taken around mid-day, not in mellow sunlight around dusk or dawn)
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, July 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a preening juvenile Yellow-billed Spoonbill; note the absence of a facial mask
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Clifton, Bairnsdale, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2017]

Lateral view of a juvenile Yellow-billed Spoonbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Clifton, Bairnsdale, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2017]

Here what looks like a family of Yellow-billed Spoonbills, with three dependants, and a Royal Spoonbill on the right; note the absence of a facial mask in the young Yellow-billed Spoonbills
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2011]

Yellow-billed Spoonbills with a juvenile bird on the right
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, January 2018]

Yellow-billed Spoonbill with two juveniles
[Burren Junction, NSW, July 2021]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Nov

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 20 - 25 days

Fledging age: ca. 30 - 40 days

Given the right conditions, Yellow-billed Spoonbills can breed any time of the year. The breeding season depends on geographic latitude. In the tropical north it peaks around March-May, whereas elsewhere it peaks around August-November.

Nest building: Male & female?

Incubation: Male & female

Dependent care: Male & female

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Sticks, twigs, bark

Height above ground: 0 - 20 m

Yellow-billed Spoonbills nest in freshwater wetlands.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill on its nest at Whittaker's Lagoon near Moree, NSW (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 71 x 45 mm

Colour: Creamy white

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/family

When the water depth is right, Yellow-billed Spoonbills can often be seen sifting through shallow water in small groups
[Near Narrabri, NSW, December 2014]

These spoonbills were caught by us napping, with two Yellow-billed Spoonbills lying down for a rest during the day, rather than just standing on one leg, with their bill tucked between the wings
[Yarrie Lake, NSW, August 2017]

Who needs a sandbank or a mudflat for roosting? When the last tourist is gone, a parking lot covered with crusher dust will do
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, November 2017]

Food, Diet

Yellow-billed Spoonbills feed on small animals, such as crustacians, snails and insects, but also fish, caught in their bill while sifting through shallow water.

This Yellow-billed Spoonbill was observed by us at it caught a yabbie (fresh water cray fish), brought it to the water's edge for rinsing...
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2017]

... before thrashing it, probably to remove the shears, and then devouring it
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2017]

Yellow-billed Spoonbill feeding in a shallow lake
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2011]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

We have not yet recorded a call of a Yellow-billed Spoonbill, but have recorded wing beats.

ybspoon_20180120.m4a

(NW NSW)

Departure (family of 4)

© MD

More Yellow-billed Spoonbill sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Tue, 15 August 2023, 22:01 +00:00