Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-fronted Spoonbill ( Platalea minor)

The Black-fronted Spoonbill ( Platalea minor) is an extremely rare species of bird in the family of the ibises and spoonbills.

Description and distribution

The plumage of this bird is 76 cm wide white. Face, beak and legs are black. It breeds on islands off the west coast of Korea and China. The wintering area is located in Japan, Taiwan, the People's Republic of China ( Hong Kong, Macao and other areas), Vietnam and South Korea.

Endangering

Due to hunting, habitat destruction and pollution, the population from 1988 to 1990 reached 288 copies its lowest stand 2001 was the sort after successful conservation efforts in the Red List of " immediate danger of extinction " to " critically endangered " been downgraded. A count showed 969 individual birds, the Birds BirdLife International in 2005 counted 1475 individual animals.

The Black-fronted Löffler excited 2002/2003 due to a mass extinction media interest. Exceptionally high winter temperatures have led Taiwan to several outbreaks of the dreaded avian botulism. The deadly bacteria are produced mainly in eutrophic waters. 73 birds died from the bacteria, which corresponds to at least seven percent of the world population.