Spoonbill Stork (Platalea Leucorodia)

Spoonbill stork is a beautiful bird, perhaps the most easy to identify because of it ‘spoon-shaped’ bill. In Hindi the bird is called ‘Chamach Baza’- a bird whose bill is like ‘chamach’ or the spoon. It is a long necked, long legged snow white marsh bird with black legs and beautiful black and yellow coloured bill. During breeding season the bird develops a crest and a ‘bag-like’ hanging under it’s neck.


¤ Found In

Large flocks can be seen near water bodies and marshy lands.
The bird feeds actively in the mornings and evenings. The flock wades into shallow water and with outstretched necks, obliquely held partly open bills the birds move forward sweeping in a half circle from side to side raking up the bottom mud with the tip of its mandibles. Between July to September the bird lays four sullied white eggs.

Our wildlife photographer Amit got the photograph of the bird by chance. He was actually on the location to shoot cormorants, when he observed this pair...preparing for their nest, which is a massive platform of sticks amongst mixed heronries on the trees standing near or in the water.