The Story
On March 22, 2018, I photographed this Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) near the Mai Po Marshes in Hong Kong’s northwest New Territories. It has the most restricted range of the six spoonbill species and is found only in eastern Asia. It feeds by touch, sweeping its flat, spoon-shaped bill from side to side through the water. It breeds mostly on small rocky islands off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula and winters at sites that include Hong Kong. IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable. Mai Po lies within the Inner Deep Bay Ramsar site, listed as a Wetland of International Importance in 1995.
I used a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW for this one, at 1/640 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100, −1 EV. WWF’s work at Mai Po, including education and bird monitoring with public help, keeps this wetland open to people and safe for birds.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) belongs to the family Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List