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Alice Springs Waste Stabilisation Ponds

A large white wading bird, with a long, spoon-shaped bill, the Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) belong to the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. With yellowish facial skin, legs, and bill, they are often seen feeding singly or in small flocks.

Native to Australia, they are found in a variety of freshwater habitats, feeding by submerging their bill and making a sweeping motion to disturb and capture prey.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer

The photographs presented here were taken in the month of February.

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  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Podicipediformes
  • Family: Threskiornithidae
  • Genus: Platalea
  • Species: Platalea flavipes

Footnote & References

  1. Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), eBird, https://ebird.org/species/yebspo1?siteLanguage=en_AU
  2. Yellow-billed spoonbill, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-billed_spoonbill

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