Arboreal Nesting in the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor)

Abstract

Populations of the Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) declined importantly until the 1990’s, before a slow but consistent increase in population size in response to successful conservation efforts. Specific sites have been specifically designed to be adequate breeding areas for the species, and these land-based locations are successfully used. Here we report on the arboreal nesting of P.minor, a behaviour that is only rarely reported and is not generally present in the scientific literature for the species. A literature search however revealed that all other Platalea species are opportunistic arboreal breeders, and this little observed behaviour in P. minor may be prevalent in specific contexts. Several pairs of P. minor were observed nesting on trees on Yu Islet (37.775°N, 126.534°E), in May 2020 and this behaviour may have consequences for the conservation of the species as it implies that nesting individuals can avoid competition with other ground breeding species, and avoid flooding, a stochastic event having a significant impact on nesting P. minor.