Breeding spoonbills cause a stir
3 August 2010
UK’s first breeding colony for 300 years sets up in Norfolk nature reserve
This summer, the emerald marshes of Holkham National Nature Reserve in Norfolk are hosting a unique breakthrough for one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds.
The spoonbill - which has bred only four times in Britain in the last three centuries – has had a stunning success at Holkham, and for the first time in over 300 years the UK has its own breeding colony of these beautiful crane-like birds.
Careful monitoring has confirmed that four nesting pairs have now fledged a total of six young, with at least a further two pairs still feeding their young in nests. At no time since the early 1700s has more than one spoonbill bred in the UK and conservationists are hoping that the unique breeding success at Holkham will not be a one-off.
Spoonbills are named after their rather comical broad bills which they elegantly sweep through water to feed. Sightings of one or two spring passage birds are typical for North Norfolk, but attention was aroused when a total of 9 spoonbills - mostly adults in full breeding plumage - arrived in the area.The spoonbills set up home in the mixed breeding colony of Cormorants, Grey Herons and Little Egrets already on the site.
Visits to the secluded breeding site were kept to a minimum to avoid disturbing the birds but it soon became clear that one adult bird was sitting on a nest with several other adults present in the surrounding area.
Michael Rooney, Natural England’s Senior Reserve Manager at Holkham NNR said: “A lot of careful work has gone into creating and managing ideal habitats for a range of nesting birds at Holkham NNR, so it is very exciting that the reserve has become a safe haven for a breeding colony of spoonbills. As several pairs nested successfully this year, we hope that the birds will return and establish a permanent colony in future years.”
Natural England manages the freshwater marshes at Holkham to cater specifically for wetland breeding birds. Maintaining high water levels through the spring into mid-summer is critical and has resulted in a dramatic increase in the population of many breeding species. The nesting colony is surrounded by water and is therefore safe from predators, while the presence of pools in adjacent fields provides nearby feeding opportunities for the adults raising hungry chicks.
Michael Rooney continued: “Many (if not most) of the spoonbills that visit Holkham and other areas of England originate from the increasing breeding population in the Netherlands. As numbers have been increasing in Western Europe in recent years, expectations have been high that spoonbills would soon colonise Britain. White-plumed spoonbill chicks taking their first flight above the Norfolk marshes is something we hope will become an annual occurrence on the Holkham NNR.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
This is the fourth successful breeding record of spoonbills in recent times.
Individuals and small parties of non-breeding birds have been regular in Norfolk (and elsewhere in UK) in spring and summer for many years. At Holkham NNR small numbers of spoonbills have often been seen in the spring and summer months in recent years. Breeding behaviour was noted from single pairs in 2004, 2006 and 2007 but although nests were built, it was never confirmed that eggs had been laid and certainly no young were fledged.
Spoonbills breed colonially on islands, in trees, or within extensive reed beds in areas with wetlands with extensive shallow water. They feed on invertebrates and small fish sifted from shallow water whilst moving their bills from side to side.
Despite the recent increases in the Netherlands, the Spoonbill suffered a long-term decline in Europe caused by the loss and degradation of its wetland haunts, and numbers are still falling in Eastern Europe. There could be as few as 8,900 pairs remaining in Europe which holds the bulk of the global population. For this reason, the bird is recognised as a Species of Conservation Concern at European level.
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