Royal spoonbills are tall white birds with black facial skin, and long, flattened bills with a spoon-shaped tip. Numbers in New Zealand have increased since the birds began breeding here in the 1940s. They gather in flocks to feed once the breeding season is over. On Manukau Harbour, the numbers of royal spoonbills and other waders have increased since sewage treatment ponds were removed in 2001.
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New Zealand Herald
Reference:
3 May 2007
Photograph by Martin Sykes
Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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