CreatureData

African spoonbill

Platalea alba Scopoli, 1786

LCLeast Concernbirds

The African spoonbill (Platalea alba) is a species in the family Threskiornithidae, order Pelecaniformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.52 kg to 1.79 kg and live up to 17.9 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

African spoonbill (Platalea alba)
Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the African spoonbill

Weight
1.52 kg – 1.79 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
17.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.4 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the African spoonbill

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

African spoonbill (Platalea alba)
Jastrow · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the African spoonbill live?

Not recorded

What is the African spoonbill?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The African spoonbill (Platalea alba) is a long-legged wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The species is widespread across Africa and Madagascar, including Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The species belongs to the genus Platalea, which also includes species such as the Black-faced spoonbill, Eurasian spoonbill, and Roseate spoonbill.

From the Wikipedia article “African spoonbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_spoonbill&oldid=1353006148), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the African spoonbill endangered?

The African spoonbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the African spoonbill classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPelecaniformes
  5. familyThreskiornithidae
  6. genusPlatalea
  7. SpeciesPlatalea alba Scopoli, 1786

Synonyms Paltalea alba, Platalea tenuirostris

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • AFSPEnglish
  • LepelaarAfrikaans
  • أبو ملعقة الأفريقيArabic
  • Африканска лопатаркаBulgarian
  • Spanell dremm ruzBreton
  • becplaner africàCatalan
  • kolpík africkýCzech
  • llwybig AffricaWelsh
  • Afrikansk SkestorkDanish
  • RotgesichtlöfflerGerman
  • Afrikanischer LöfflerGerman
  • RosenfußlöfflerGerman
  • AthokpurDinka
  • afrika plataleoEsperanto
  • Espátula africanaSpanish
  • aafrika luitsnokk-iibisEstonian
  • afrikankapustahaikaraFinnish
  • Spatule d'AfriqueFrench
  • Spatule d’AfriqueFrench
  • Leitheadach AfracachIrish
  • Gob lhean AffrickaghManx
  • כפן אפריקניHebrew
  • afrička žličarkaCroatian
  • afrikai kanalasgémHungarian
  • AfríkuspænirIcelandic
  • Spatola africanaItalian
  • アフリカヘラサギJapanese
  • baltoji girnovėLithuanian
  • Āfrikas karošknābisLatvian
  • SotrovavaMalagasy
  • Sotro sognyMalagasy
  • Naakaii Łizhiní Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ dááʼadeeʼiiNavajo
  • Afrikaanse lepelaarDutch
  • afrikaskjestorkNorwegian
  • warzęcha czerwonolicaPolish
  • colhereiro-africanoPortuguese
  • Белая колпицаRussian
  • AfrihkáspoađđoháigirNorthern Sami
  • lyžičiar ružovonohýSlovak
  • afriška žličarkaSlovenian
  • Afrički kašičarSerbian
  • afrikansk skedstorkSwedish
  • Afrika KaşıkçısıTurkish
  • mMaleswanaTswana
  • косар африканськийUkrainian
  • 非洲琵鷺Chinese
  • 非洲琵鹭Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the African spoonbill

Other species in the same genus Platalea.

LC, Least Concern

Royal spoonbill

Platalea regia

ThreskiornithidaeNo free photo yet

CompareAfrican spoonbill vs Eurasian spoonbillAfrican spoonbill vs Roseate spoonbillAfrican spoonbill vs Black-faced spoonbillAfrican spoonbill vs Royal spoonbill

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the African spoonbill?

An adult African spoonbill weighs 1.52 kg – 1.79 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the African spoonbill endangered?

The African spoonbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the African spoonbill live?

The African spoonbill has a recorded lifespan of 17.9 years.

What kind of animal is the African spoonbill?

The African spoonbill (Platalea alba) belongs to the family Threskiornithidae in the order Pelecaniformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African spoonbill (Platalea alba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-spoonbill

MLA

“African spoonbill (Platalea alba).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-spoonbill.

BibTeX
@misc{african_spoonbill_2026,
  title = {African spoonbill (Platalea alba)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-spoonbill},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}