blp shabash 430x45
Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

  • You are here:  
  • Home
  • Show Image

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Image ID 45218)
Photographed byMichael Hamel-Green on Wed 24th Feb, 2021 and uploaded on Sun 7th Mar, 2021 .
Resolution927x1400
Viewed392
ID45218
CommentIf you can’t see it, feel for it. Some waders have their own way of going about things. Most waders seem to have sharp pointy beaks. Stilts have their rapiers, Ibis their scimitars. Pelicans do, admittedly, have a big pouch that is part of their equipment but their slightly hooked beak is still pointy when closed. Over the eons of its evolution, the Yellow-Billed Spoonbill has thought of a different solution: a spoon for a bill, equipped with a very sensitive tip, all the better for dipping and casting around in murky wetland “soups” for small invertebrates, and swallowing them up as soon as they are sensed. And what could be murkier and more full of little soft invertebrates than the Treatment Plant’s nutrient-rich waters. So it stirs its spoon from side to side as it wades through the Werribee wetland soup, and finds it very tasty indeed. This shows one such Yellow-Billed Spoonbill stretching its wings. As the lacy black filaments in its lower back reveal, this one is wearing its breeding plumage.
EquipmentNikonZ7ii Nikon 300mm f4 PF TC1.4 420mm ISO 1250 1/6400th f8
LocationWerribee Treatment Plant, Werribee, Victoria
Keywordsadult, breeding plumage/features
You already have an outstanding request to download this image for non-commercial purposes. You may cancel this request by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work.
You may request download of this image for non-commercial purposes. A request that meets the usage rights of this image will be automatically approved; a request that does not meet the usage rights will be refused, but may (at the Download Manager's discretion) be referred to the photographer. The usage rights of this image are: Any non-commercial use by any requestor, including personal use. For further details of image usage rights, see here. Request the image by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work.
Previous20718/31593 in Main LibraryNext
Previous145/996 by Michael Hamel-GreenNext
Previous79/121 of Yellow-billed SpoonbillNext
Previous345/563 of Ibis and SpoonbillsNext
Previous21431/34446 OverallNext
Use the arrows at the left and Right hand side of this page to display the Next/Previous photographs in that group, or click on one of the blue links above to start a slide show in that group (group slide shows are only allowed if there are less than 1000 images in the group).

CONTACT US

The easiest way to contact us is by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Our People page, in the About Us section, contains email links to each of the committee members.