Royal Spoonbill
Platalea regia
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Birds
The royal spoonbill, also known as the black-billed spoonbill lives in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in New Caledonia. It is one of 6 spoonbill species world wide. The royal spoonbill lives in wetlands and feeds on crustaceans, fish and small insects by sweeping its bill from side to side. It always flies with its head extended. Widespread throughout its large range, the royal spoonbill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Classification
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Threskiornithidae
- Genus
- Platalea