• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	nomadic	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	1,521 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	27,100,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	7300-73000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	7.2 years	-	-	-

Trend justification: The overall population trend is stable, although some populations have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native
Botswana	extant	native		yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native
Burundi	extant	native
Cameroon	extant	native
Central African Republic	extant	native
Chad	extant	native
Congo	extant	native
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native
Djibouti	extant	native
Eritrea	extant	native
Eswatini	extant	native
Ethiopia	extant	native
Gabon	extant	native
Gambia	extant	native
Ghana	extant	vagrant
Guinea	extant	native		yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native		yes
Kenya	extant	native
Lesotho	extant	native
Liberia	extant	native
Madagascar	extant	native
Malawi	extant	native
Mali	extant	native
Mauritania	extant	native
Mozambique	extant	native
Namibia	extant	native
Niger	extant	native
Nigeria	extant	native
Oman	extant	vagrant			yes
Rwanda	extant	native
Senegal	extant	native
Sierra Leone	extant	native
Somalia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native		yes
South Sudan	extant	native		yes
Sudan	extant	native
Tanzania	extant	native		yes
Uganda	extant	native
Yemen	extant	native			yes
Zambia	extant	native		yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Botswana	Lake Ngami
Botswana	Linyanti swamp/Chobe river
Botswana	Makgadikgadi Pans
Botswana	Okavango Delta
Chad	Lake Fitri
Guinea	Iles Tristao
Kenya	Lake Elmenteita
Kenya	Lake Naivasha
Kenya	Lake Nakuru National Park
Kenya	Tana River Delta
Madagascar	Manambolomaty wetland complex and Tsimembo Classified Forest
Malawi	Lake Chilwa and flood-plain
Mali	Lac Débo - Lac Oualado Débo
Mali	Lac Fati
South Africa	Berg River Estuary
South Africa	iSimangaliso Wetland Park
South Africa	Nyl River Floodplain
South Africa	Sandveld and Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserves
South Africa	Spitskop Dam
South Sudan	Sudd (Bahr-el-Jebel system)
Tanzania	Lake Eyasi
Tanzania	Mtera reservoir
Tanzania	Wembere steppe
Zambia	Bangweulu Swamps
Zambia	Barotse Floodplains
Zambia	Kafue Flats
Zambia	Kafue National Park
Zambia	Liuwa Plain National Park
Zambia	South Luangwa National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below 8ha)	suitable	resident
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	suitable	resident
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas	suitable	resident
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Abstraction of ground water (unknown use)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: African Spoonbill Platalea alba. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/african-spoonbill-platalea-alba on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.