Story: Wetland birds

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.