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The bill of the spoonbill is approximately four times longer than its head. It ends in the shape of a spoon, hence its name.

Spoonbill

The bill of the spoonbill is approximately four times longer than its head. It ends in the shape of…

"Spoonbill is the popular name of the birds of the genus Platalea, belonging to the heron family (Ardeidæ), order Grallatores, from the shape of the bill, which is somewhat like a spoon, being curiously widened out at the tip. Live in society in wooded marshes, and on the sea-shore. Adult male is about 32 inches long; plumage white with pale pink tinge; at the junction of the neck with the breast there is a band of buffy yellow; the naked skin on the throat is yellow; legs and feet black; bill about eight inches long, very much flattened and grooved at the base, the expanded portion yellow, the rest black. There is a white occipital crest in both sexes. The spoonbill possesses no power of modulating its voice. The windpipe is bent on itself, like the figure 8 , the coils applied to each other and held in place by a thin membrane. This peculiarity does not exist in young birds. The roseate spoonbill, a native of the United States, has rose-colored plumage."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Spoonbill

"Spoonbill is the popular name of the birds of the genus Platalea, belonging to the heron family (Ardeidæ),…

A genus of wading birds of the heron family, and having a resemblance to the stork and the ibis.

Spoonbill

A genus of wading birds of the heron family, and having a resemblance to the stork and the ibis.

North American wading bird.

Spoonbill

North American wading bird.

"Platalea leucorodia, the Spoonbill, has white plumage, with bare lores, orbits, and throat, and a fine nuchal crest in the breeding season, the fore-neck being tinged with buff. P. leucorodia has yellow naked areas, black feet and bill, with yellow bars and tip to the latter." A. H. Evans, 1900

Spoonbill Standing on One Leg

"Platalea leucorodia, the Spoonbill, has white plumage, with bare lores, orbits, and throat, and a fine…

Drawing its name from the widing of its bill towards the tip, the spoonbill frequents coastal and marshy areas, feeding on shellfish, marine animals, small snails, and fish.

Roseate Spoonbill

Drawing its name from the widing of its bill towards the tip, the spoonbill frequents coastal and marshy…