Black-faced Spoonbill

The Black-faced Spoonbill is a white wading bird native to East Asia and is the rarest of the world's six spoonbill species. It has a flattened, spoon-shaped black bill and black facial skin that extends around the eyes like a mask, giving the species its name.

In breeding plumage, adults grow long, shaggy nape plumes and a buffy-yellow wash across the breast and crest. Outside the breeding season the plumage is plain white with the same distinctive dark bill and face.

Key field marks

• Medium-sized all-white spoonbill with a black, spatulate bill
• Black facial skin extending around the eye, giving a masked appearance
• Breeding adults show a shaggy nape crest and yellowish breast band
• Shorter, stockier bill than the similar Eurasian Spoonbill

Similar species

The Eurasian Spoonbill, which overlaps in parts of the wintering range, is larger with a longer bill that has a pale or yellow tip, and its facial skin is more restricted, not fully masking the eye. The Royal Spoonbill of Australasia does not overlap in range. White egrets lack the spatulate bill entirely.

This species breeds almost exclusively on a small number of rocky islets off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, particularly in the Yellow Sea. After breeding, it migrates south to winter in coastal wetlands of Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, Vietnam, and Japan.

Because its breeding range is so restricted and its wintering sites concentrated in a few estuaries and tidal flats, the Black-faced Spoonbill is highly vulnerable to habitat loss from coastal development and land reclamation, which is the primary driver of its endangered status.

Like other spoonbills, it feeds by wading through shallow water and sweeping its bill side to side to detect prey by touch, often foraging in small groups at dawn and dusk. It roosts communally, often standing on one leg with the bill tucked under a wing.

Vocalizations are limited mostly to low grunting and bill-clattering at breeding colonies. Nests are built on rocky ledges or low vegetation on offshore islets, typically in small colonies, with both parents sharing incubation and chick care. Coordinated international conservation efforts, including winter censuses and protected wintering sites, have helped the global population slowly recover from a low of a few hundred birds in the 1990s.