The New Student's Reference Work/Spoonbill
Spoon′bill, the name of birds related to
the Ibises, having long, broadly expanded
bills, more like paddles than spoons. They
belong chiefly to the eastern hemisphere,
where there are six or seven species. The
European spoonbill is a white bird about 32
inches long. It breeds in Holland and other
parts of Europe. The roseate spoonbill is
the only American species. It is abundant
in the tropics and also breeds in the
southern
United States. These birds inhabit
marshes, muddy borders of estuaries and
WHITE SPOONBILL
small sea-islands
overgrown with
bushes. They are
from 28 to 35
inches in length,
of a beautiful
rose-color, deepest
on the wings,
fading to almost
white on the neck,
back and breast.
Their tail-coverts
are deep carmine.
They feed at night
by gathering
insects and
shellfishes from the mud in shallow water. In
the breeding season they congregate in
large numbers.