Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill (黑面琵鷺)
Taiwan (2004)
20th September, 2014. Chigo

The black-faced Spoonbill has the most restricted distribution of all spoonbills, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. Spoonbills are large water birds with dorso-ventrally flattened, spatulate bills. These birds use a tactile method of feeding, wading in the water and sweeping their beaks from side-to-side to detect prey. Confined to the coastal areas of eastern Asia, it seems that it was once common throughout its area of distribution. It has a niche existence on only a few small rocky islands off the west coast of North Korea, with four wintering sites at Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as other places where they have been observed in migration. Wintering also occurs in Cheju, South Korea, Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, and Red River, Delta Vietnam. More recently, sightings of Black-faced Spoonbill birds were noted in Thailand, the Philippines, mainland China, and Macao They were classified as an endangered species through IUCN in 2005. Declines in their population are predicted in the future, mainly due to the amount of deforestation, pollution, and other man-made industries.