The African Spoonbill is a large species of wading bird found in parts of Africa, including Madagascar, Kenya, and South Africa. Their preferred habitat includes shallow water and wetlands.
Like other kinds of spoonbills, the African Spoonbill feeds by swinging its uniquely-shaped bill from side to side in the water, catching food like fish, insects, and crustaceans.
African Spoonbills can be recognized by their white plumage, reddish legs and bare red face. And of course the unique shape of the bill stands out.
Conservation
The African Spoonbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
アフリカヘラサギ [afurikaherasagi]