![BILL: The yellow-billed spoonbill is moderately common in the Ballarat region, although its numbers fluctuate with the seasons. BILL: The yellow-billed spoonbill is moderately common in the Ballarat region, although its numbers fluctuate with the seasons.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/vHY76HvbmdzrEjnU6er3NK/d9321d9d-82f5-419b-8c28-b06f38a12c1e.jpg/r0_41_1024_603_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A number of waterbirds have odd shaped bills.
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The bills of the ibis and the curlew are long and downcurved, while that of the avocet is curved upwards.
One of the oddest is that of the spoonbill.
It’s the shape of the bill that has given the bird its name.
This bill is widened at the tip, and is actually more spatula-shaped than spoon-shaped, because its tip is not dished.
The birds feed with their sensitive bills open a few centimetres. They sweep them from side to side through shallow water in search of small aquatic creatures such as water beetles and small yabbies.
The inside of the “spoon” is equipped with “vibration detectors”.
This special feature enables the birds to feel for their food rather than look for it.
Spoonbills, as a result, feed in muddy water, unlike egrets and herons.
Today’s photo shows a fine example of yellow-billed spoonbills.
The bill can be from dull yellow to off-white.
The yellow-billed spoonbill is moderately common in the Ballarat region, although its numbers fluctuate with the seasons and from year to year.
It is not a bird that can be found reliably at any one spot but it is seen occasionally at Lake Wendouree.
Most of the sightings occur on the dredging islands in the lake’s centre.
Less common locally is the royal spoonbill, with black bill and legs, and with brighter white feathers. The royal spoonbill is most often seen wading in shallow waters.
Spoonbills readily perch in trees. The same applies to ibises, herons and egrets.
All these birds build stick nests, mostly in trees over water.
SWIFT PARROTS
The swift parrot is a small nectar-feeding parrot visiting southern Australia from Tasmania each winter.
Not many of these rare birds have been seen in our area so far this year.
A check of the most likely places revealed just one group of about six birds at Campbelltown.
Swift Parrots are forced to travel far and wide to find sufficient food. The birds are usually attracted to the flowers of the grey box, yellow gum and red ironbark, but none of these trees have flowered prolifically.
The parrots have no doubt moved to other parts of Victoria or New South Wales where other eucalypts are flowering.
Their rapid flight through the treetops, and their nectar-feeding, are habits they share with the lorikeets.
Write to Roger Thomas at The Courier, PO Box 21, Ballarat, 3353, or via email to rthomas@vic.australis.com.au