SOME DATA ON THE STATUS OF THE SPOONBILL,
PLATALEA LEUCORODIA L., IN EUROPE, ESPECIALLY
IN THE NETHERLANDS
by
G. A. BROUWER 1938
Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden
(33rd Publication of the Vogeltrekstation Foundation)
The steady increase of the human population with all its consequences is
an omnipresent threat to the wildlife of the Netherlands, especially to the
larger animals who make greater demands on their habitat. That is why
preservationists must continuously watch that the living conditions of such
species do not drop below a certain level. Besides the various reclamation
works and reallotment schemes that have been carried out all over the
country, the huge hydraulic-engineering works, known as the “Delta Plan”
in the provinces of Zuid-Holland and Zeeland will probably prove to
have a really serious effect on the birds that are in the habit of feeding in
tidal waters. For these hydraulic works will close off the estuaries of the
Rhine and the Meuse, thus bringing an end to the tides which provide not
only rich feeding opportunities but also safety (by making the habitat more
or less inaccessible to men). Among the birds frequenting these tidal waters
the Spoonbill is perhaps the most precious one. Hence, as regards its favourite
feeding grounds the prospects for this species — chosen as our “national
bird” in 1962 — are rather unfavourable. These prospects, together with
the fact that our Spoonbill population has shown a decrease since 1950-1954,
lead me to the subject of this paper. Although it is mainly based on lite
rature, the first two chapters contain many of my own observations; I
am indebted to Mr. C. van Orden for some recent data on the Zwanen
water and Texel colonies. Furthermore I want to thank Dr. A. C. Perdeck
and his staff of the “Vogeltrekstation Foundation” for the kind assistance
in providing me with the most recent ringing records, and Prof. K. H.
Voous for help with literature.
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482
G. A. BROUWER
I. THE NETHERLANDS BREEDING COLONIES IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Although the main course of the Netherlands Spoonbill population is
more or less a matter of common knowledge thanks to the publications of
Haverschmidt (1935), Van Oordt (1937, 1939, 1954, 1957) and Brouwer
et al. (1920-1946), it may be wise to summarize in a few lines the develop
ment of this population during the last hundred years.
About 1850 in the moor district of the provinces of Holland and Utrecht
there were two large heronries, where the Spoonbills bred together with
Cormorants and some heron species: one of these colonies was on the
Schollevaarseiland in the inundated Wollefoppenpolder near Nieuwerkerk
a/d IJssel, the other was in the Horstermeer between Ankeveen, Vreeland
and Kortenhoef. Ornithologists who visited the colonies in the period 1850
1880 reported that the tenant-farmers of these marshes made a vile profit
out of the birds, taking their eggs for two months, which was far too long.
So it was perhaps fortunate for the birds that both marshes were reclaimed,
the Schieland lakes (Schollevaarseiland) in 1874, the Horstermeer in 1883.
It is not known for sure where the birds which were driven away settled
down next. Some may have joined the Naardermeer colony, which already
existed in 1866 (Van Bemmelen, 1866), but it is likely that the main body
found a home elsewhere, probably in the Zwanenwater near Callantsoog,
which place is not mentioned in literature before 1892 (H. W. de Graaf’s
manuscript). I may add here that in 1880 another group of Spoonbills,
only a small one of 5 to 25 pairs, lost its breeding habitat too, in this case
through the draining of the Grote Vlak on the island of Texel (Drijver,
1957).
In any case at the beginning of this century there were two Spoonbill
colonies in the Netherlands: one in the Naardermeer (where about 50 pairs
bred at the time) and one in the Zwanenwater where the population amounted
to some 200 (or 300) pairs. The last-named colony was visited on 27th
July 1898 by Sclater (1899), who, though he did not mention the name
of the place, reported that it “was fortunately within a large enclosed area
owned by a private individual, and strictly preserved”. For the colony in
the Naardermeer strict preservation came into force in 1906 when this lake
was purchased by the Vereeniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in
Nederland (the Dutch conservation society).
From that year onwards both Spoonbill colonies flourished and in 1933
a third colony was founded in the Muy on the island of Texel, followed
in 1954 by a fourth one in the Geul on the same island.
Apart from these settled colonies occasional cases of breeding or attempts
to breed became known from at least four other places, viz. one in the
THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
( I
483
Delta area, one in the IJsselmeer area and two in the Wadden Sea area.
It seems that in the part of these breeding attempts young birds were involved.
To illustrate the present distribution of the Spoonbill in our country more
clearly, I have — in imitation of the Candlers (1890-1891) and Van Oordt
957) — mapped the different breeding places and connected feeding
grounds as well as the places where non-breeding birds assemble during
the breeding season. After the breeding season Spoonbills are to be found
in many other shallow waters and tidal flats, but I have not marked these
on the map. This restriction is responsible for the differences which are
immediately apparent if Van Oordt’s map is compared with mine. A short
comment on this map (fig. 1) follows here.

1. The Naardermeer covers about 700 hectares; it comprises several sheets
   of open water (1 to 1.40 m deep), reedbeds and a broad border of mixed
   forest of willows, alders and birches. The marks of the last attempt at
   reclamation (1883-1886), which included most of the northern part (north
   of the Zijpelingskade), are still present in the shape of some straight and
   deep channels and numerous narrow ditches as demarcation lines. The vicinity
   of Amsterdam (about 12 km away) is obvious from the traffic: a railway
   embankment cuts the lake into two parts, motor highways run parallel on
   both sides at some 250 to 700 m distance; a new one leading to the future
   Zuid-Flevoland polder will touch the northern side, passing between the
   lake and its windmill! Furthermore, airplanes heading for Schiphol air
   port fly over it regularly. But the Spoonbills whose main feeding grounds
   are some 20 km away in Waterland do not worry in the least about all the
   traffic when they fly back and forth to their breeding-place, which is left
   absolutely untouched. For the fluctuations in the numbers of the breeding
   pairs and some other details see Chapter II.
2. The Zwanenwater comprises a long-drawn dune valley with two
   communicating lakes surrounded by overgrown dunes. This private property
   is about 4 km long and ij^ km broad and is bordered by the North Sea on
   the west and the Zijpe & Hazepolder on the east, forming a complex of
   some 600 hectares. Twenty-five years ago the Zwanenwater was still an
   out-of-the-way place, but during World War II the road along the inner
   side of the dunes was metalled and a camping site has been established
   nearby! Another more recent threat is the construction of a nuclear power
   station (Euratom) barely i y 2
   km from this important bird sanctuary.
   This is our largest colony though the figures given for the years 1925,
   1927 and 1928 (ranging from 380 to 450 pairs) were based on estimates
   484
   G. A. BROUWER
   Fig. i. Map showing the four Spoonbill colonies (nos. 1-4, circles) and connected
   feeding grounds (shaded areas). Some breeding attempts (nos. 5, 7 and 8) are in
   dicated by a crossed circle. The four places where non-breeding birds regularly stay
   during May-June, are indicated by: Sch. (Scheelhoek), Bb. (Biesbosch), La. (Laaxum),
   and L.D. (Lange Duinen), cf. text. The names of the new polders in the IJsselmeer
   (two of which are still under construction) are: N.O.P., Noord Oost Polder; O.F.,
   Oost-Flevoland; Z.F., Zuid-Flevoland; and M.W., Markerwaard.
   THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
   485
   and were certainly too high. Between 1930-1946 the numbers fluctuated
   between 150 and 220 pairs, with the exception of 1934 when there were
   only 100 nests. The birds are mostly divided up into two or more groups;
   they are remarkably tame, especially when the young are about 2 or 3 weeks
   old, as Haverschmidt (1935) has pointed out. Their principal feeding grounds
   are the tidal flats of the Balgzand and the Breehorn on both sides of the
   Amsteldiep some 20 to 25 km from the colony. But they also feed in the
   polder-ditches in the Zijpe & Hazepolder (environment of Oudesluis) east
   north-east of Callantsoog. During World War II there was at first little
   disturbance; on 12th April 1943, however, nearly all the eggs were stolen
   and in the spring of 1945 the birds were frightened by heavy shooting on
   Texel where Russian prisoners of war (Georgians) revolted against the
   Germans. In 1948 quite a number of nearly fledged young were stolen for
   sale to zoological gardens or private collections of ornamental wildfowl.
   Most of the stolen birds were, however, recovered by the police and the
   thieves and receivers were prosecuted.
3. The Muy on Texel is a small and shallow lake of about 6 hectares,
   the lowest point of a long-drawn dune valley in the centre of a nature
   reserve of some 800 hectares, administered by the State Forest Department
   since 1908. This lake is well isolated on the seaward side and on the opposite
   side there is a dune from which visitors under guidance of a keeper are
   allowed to watch the birds from a distance of about 200 m (plate XXVI).
   Around 1909 a small number of Grey Herons settled there and Spoonbills
   visited the lake repeatedly. But it was only after several unsuccessful attempts
   during the years 1904, 1910 and 1921-1931 that in 1933 five pairs succeeded in
   rearing young. From 1934 onwards their number increased rapidly, prob
   ably because birds from the Zwanenwater colony shifted to this place, which
   is only 34 km away. In 1938 there were at least no nests and this number
   was about the average for the next ten years; in the breeding seasons of
   1953 and 1954 there were about 150 pairs. In mid-April 1943 all the eggs
   were taken by some prisoners of war from India, who were encamped on
   Texel and were keen on eating these eggs. After some discussions with
   the military authorities and a lecture on bird protection for the offenders,
   the Spoonbills were left in peace and some 50 pairs bred again and reared
   their broods.
   The main feeding grounds for the birds of this colony are the Eendracht
   schorren, the tidal flats north-east of the island, but in all probability they
   also feed on the Balgzand and the Breehorn as the Grey Herons inhabiting
   the same breeding place do (Brouwer, 1936). Some Spoonbills feed in the
   4
   86
   G. A. BROUWER
   broader ditches on the inner side of the dikes or in the lowland near Oude
   Schild, but the latter feeding ground has been spoiled by the reallotment
   activities.
4. The Geul is a shallow lake, that came into existence after the con
   struction of sanddikes on the sandflats at the southernmost point of Texel
   when this was separated from the sea some 35 years ago. In 1926 this
   area (about 400 hectares) was declared a nature reserve, administered by
   the Staatsbosbeheer (Forest Department). In a couple of years the whole
   area became a dense reedbed and during World War II a few Grey Herons
   and Spoonbills attempted to nest, but they were disturbed. In 1953 a solitary
   nest was built but abandoned; in 1954, however, about five pairs nested and
   some young were hatched, although the adjacent sandflats were used as
   a bombing range. Ever since a small group of half a dozen pairs have
   reared young ones nearly every year in this guarded sanctuary; in 1963
   there were 15 nests.
5. The Breede Water forms a part of the “Voorne’s Duin” nature reserve
   (742 hectares), a donation to the Vereeniging tot Behoud van Natuur
   monumenten in 1927. This shallow dune lake, covering about 23 hectares,
   came into existence some 45 years ago (in the same way as the Geul) on
   the westernmost point of the island of Voorne. There are some small islands
   in this lake and a vegetation of Phragmites which is kept within bounds.
   In 1934 a few Spoonbills tried to settle: some nests were built and in one
   of them three eggs were laid. But later on these eggs proved to be infertile
   (Brouwer et al., 1935; Van ’t Sant, 1935). In following years some
   birds stayed at this lake without breeding, for example in 1936, when
   seven birds (immature ones among them) were present. In 1961 another
   attempt at breeding was recorded: some five birds were present; two nests
   were built, in one of which two eggs, which did not hatch, appeared (Ten
   Kate, 1963). Their feeding grounds are the tidal flats in the Haringvliet
   only a few km away.
6. For reasons of preservation I am not authorized to give particulars
   here about the exact place where in 1959 a breeding attempt occurred in the
   IJsselmeer area. On this secret place 20 to 25 birds were present, one nest
   with eggs was seen, but no young were reared. No. 6 is not indicated on
   the map.
7. In the plantations of Robbenoord in the Wieringermeer polder a pair
   reared two young ones in 1944. This pair occupied an old heron’s nest
   built in an alder tree some 3 m above the ground (see Van IJzendoorn,
   1950, plate VII).
   THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
   487
8. The Boschplaat is a large national nature reserve (4,400 hectares)
   on the island of Terschelling. In former years Spoonbills were regularly
   seen feeding on the tidal flats along the southern side of the Boschplaat.
   During high tide these birds rested among the vegetation of some low
   dunes. Nevertheless, the finding of a nest with eggs on the “Tweede
   Duintjes” at the end of June 1962 was quite unexpected. Thanks to strict
   guarding two young ones were reared (Tanis, 1963). In 1963 eight pairs
   bred at the same place. The habitat of this breeding place is quite different
   from all the others used by Spoonbills in our country. It is comparable
   with the situation on the island of Memmert (Germany) where another
   attempt at breeding was recorded in 1962 (see p. 497).
   Summarizing we can say that the total Spoonbill population in the top
   years 1950-1954 amounted to at least 500 pairs; in the last two years
   (1962-1963) there were about 380 pairs or some 24% less.
   I
   Furthermore I have marked on the map four of the five places where
   groups of non-breeding Spoonbills like to stay during the breeding season
   (May-June). They are the following: the Scheelhoek (Sch.) and the Bies
   bosch (Bb.) in the Delta area; two places in the IJsselmeer area, viz. a
   small projecting point east of Laaxum (La.) and the place No. 6 above
   mentioned; in the Wadden Sea area the Lange Duinen (L.D.) on the
   island Ameland.
   A few particulars about each of them follows here.
   The Scheelhoek is a sandbank in the Haringvliet barely 10 km south of
   the Breede Water, covering some 225 hectares, about 140 of which are
   reedbeds. At low tide it is surrounded by mudflats. It belongs to the Crown
   Lands and has been administered since 1950 as a bird sanctuary by the
   Stichting Natuurmonument De Beer. Prior to 1940 as the local airline
   Rotterdam-Haamstede was still in operation one had a good view of this
   place from the air, as I know from my own experience, having noted a
   troop of 20 to 25 Spoonbills on 23rd June 1939. More recent figures for
   May and June fluctuate between 10 and 100 (Braaksma & Van Leeuwen,
   9S7)- The Scheelhoek is now included in the Delta Plan works and has
   lost its isolated position, but it is not impossible that the Spoonbills will
   keep to this place if it is strictly guarded.
   In the Biesbosch the tidal mudflats at the south-western tip of the
   Brabantse Biesbosch are preferred, viz. the Jonge Deen and Boerenplaat
   and the surroundings of the duck decoy on the Vischplaat. Although the
   tides will cease here after the Haringvliet is closed off in 1968, it is not
   impossible that the Spoonbill will find a refuge in the complex of the
   Fig. 2. Diagram showing the fluctuations of the Spoonbill population of the Naarder
   meer during the period 1884-1963 (black: precise estimates; white: rough estimates).
   THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
   489
   “De Dood” polder and its surroundings which have been purchased by the
   Government as a nature reserve. This season (May-June 1963) about fifteen
   of them frequented the last-named polder as it was flooded during every
   high tide, one of its dikes having been burst in the preceding winter. See
   also Verhey (1961).
   The small projecting point east of Laaxum was well known to bird
   watchers as it afforded shelter to many birds: herons, waders, ducks etc.
   This place has improved considerably since the Zuider Zee was closed off
   in 1932. The water level being lowered some 12 cm, a small bay came into
   existence and later on fairly large reedbeds made this point less accessible.
   During the period 1934-1941 some eight to thirty Spoonbills frequented this
   place in May and June; no figures are available from more recent years.
   This spot could remain a “pied a terre” for Spoonbills for many years to
   come, which cannot be said for the Lange Duinen on Ameland where the
   birds have probably been attracted by a small lagoon with a dense reed
   vegetation. They were seen here in 1951 and later years. But as this lagoon
   is open to the north-west winds the place will gradually be covered with
   drift sand.
   For the sake of completeness I want to call attention here to the following
   breeding attempts:
   About 1884 late in the season (July) some 20 to 40 Spoonbill pairs tried
   to settle in the Giethoornse polder, province Overijssel, but this attempt
   failed because some of the birds were shot by the local fowlers (Drijver,
   1927).
   In 1906 a breeding case was reported from Eernewoude, province Fries
   land, where a single clutch was taken by a foreign egg-collector. The details
   mentioned by Van Balen (1907) and Snouckaert van Schauburg (1908)
   are rather vague, so that this case should be considered doubtful.
   II. SOME DETAILS CONCERNING THE NAARDERMEER COLONY WITH REMARKS
   ON THE NUMBER OF BROODS MADE AND ON THE CO-EXISTENCE WITH CORMORANTS
   To give a survey of the fortunes of the Spoonbill colony in the Naarder
   meer I tried to draw a diagram of it. Unfortunately, the figures available
   were very heterogeneous, as only in a few years the nests were actually
   counted; in most years the size of the colony was deduced from the number
   of birds that rose in the air when visitors intentionally made a noise near
   the breeding place. Furthermore the date of counting is also important be
   cause new nests are occasionally made during the breeding season, some
   times a whole group at the same time. So the diagram reproduces the
   49°
   G. A. BROUWER
   situation in broad outline only (fig. 2). I would like to comment on it as
   follows.
9. — Instead of starting with the year 1906 as Van Oordt did I have
   chosen 1884, because I would like to give an idea of the period before the
   lake became a nature reserve and also because it enables me to use an over
   looked description by Mr. Alfred Crowley (in Yarrell, 1884-1885) who
   visited the area during the years when work on the reclamation of the
   Naardermeer (which was continued from 1883-1886 before being aban
   doned) was in full swing. Only the southern part remained untouched and
   here the Spoonbills and Purple Herons held their own. Crowley, who saw
   the colony on 27th May 1884, noted that some 200 Spoonbills and 50 or 60
   Purple Herons were hovering over his head as he came quite close. The
   Spoonbills’ nests contained four eggs or in most cases four young birds,
   many ready to leave the nest, and several ran off as the visitors approached.
   But Mr. Crowley had good luck … after wandering about he found one
   clutch of only three eggs and one of four, which he managed to blow.
   1895-1905. — Steenhuizen (1905) points out that during that decade the
   number of Spoonbills’ nests had decreased from 80 to 25. He stresses the
   need for stricter preservation, as the keeper of the lake was still allowed
   to make a profit from these birds by selling the young ones. There was
   a dealer in Sloterdijk whose aviaries were alongside the railway; in the second
   half of the summer they always housed a good many young Spoonbills as
   everybody travelling from Amsterdam to Haarlem could see (Thijsse, 1905).
   All this was allowed until the Bird Law of 1912 came into force.
10. — The Naardermeer becomes our first nature reserve; its pur
    chase by the Society was stimulated by the fact that the municipality of
    Amsterdam intended to make a refuse dump of it. The Spoonbill colony
    is now at its lowest ebb.
    1906-1913. — The size of the colony fluctuates around some 25 nests,
    but increases to about twice that number in 1913.
    1914-1929. — During World War I (in 1916) another increase to about
    65 pairs is recorded, which lasts till 1929 (55 to 60 pairs), with the exception
    of 1920 when only 16 nests are occupied.
    1930-1939. — The size of the colony is determined only once during
    this period: in 1933 there are 83 nests. In 1936 some 28 pairs break away
    from the main colony and settle down in a new place, viz. in the Jan
    Hagensbos, a strictly preserved botanical reserve of some 15 hectares (fig.
    3, no. 4).
    1940-1945. — During World War II the breeding population numbers
    some 100 to 130 pairs, divided over three colonies: the Middenpol, the
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    491
    Fig. 3. Map of the Naardermeer with the breeding places used by the Spoonbills:
    1, Zijpelings- or Siepeltjeskade (in former years and in 1949); 2, de Punt (in former
    years, anew in 1948-1953) ; 3, de Middenpol (till 1945); 4, Jan Hagensbos (1936-1948) ;
    5, West of Jan Hagensbos (a small group in 1946 and 1947 only); 6, Jan Hagensbos
    (since 1949); and 7, Jan Hagensbos (in 1963). The part of the lake south of the
    dotted line remained untouched during the reclamation attempts in 1883-1886.
    492
    G. A. BROUWER
    Punt and the Jan Hagensbos. The nests are counted on the ice during
    winter. In the spring of 1945 the Middenpol colony is shot at from the
    railway-embankment by German soldiers, after which this breeding place
    has been abandoned up to the present day.
    1946-1955. — This period is characterized by an increase of the popula
    tion to over 150 pairs and by the settlement of large numbers of Cormorants
    (to which I return below). The exceptionally high figure for 1951 is due to
    the discovery in mid-June of a new colony of 54 nests not far from the main
    one. In 1954 on 17th June an aerial photo is taken of the breeding place
    (no. 6) in the Jan Hagensbos, showing how the Spoonbills are mixed up
    with the Cormorants (plate XXVII).
    1956-1960. — The colony remains in the same place but the nests are not
    counted probably because we were obliged to turn our attention to the Cor
    morants which had to be kept within bounds.
    1961-1963. — In 1961 it is found that the number of Spoonbills’ nests
    has decreased to a mere 70, and in 1962 to 64 nests (both April counts). In
    1963 the birds start nesting in the old place; after a while, however, the
    greater part of the population chooses another (quieter) place in the north
    eastern corner of the Jan Hagenbos (no. 7). On 4th May the colonies com
    prise some 40 and 55 nests respectively; in 3 nests of the colony of 40 the
    young are just hatching, extraordinarily late after the long winter 1 ).
    Number of broods
    In Spoonbill colonies there are often some pairs which start breeding much
    later than the main body. The difference in time may amount to one or two
    or even ten weeks. This means in the latter case that when most of the young
    ones in a colony are already fledged the eggs of these late-breeders are just
    hatching. The following examples illustrate this.
    On 29th July 1950 in a colony with about 150 young birds, 80 % of which
    could fly, the other 20 % having withdrawn on foot into the reedbeds, I came
    across one nest with 2 small young in down, 2 or 3 days old. On 24th July
    1956 and 5th July 1963 I observed similar cases.
    The clutches found by Mr. Crowley, as already mentioned above, belonged
    to such stragglers, though his visit took place on an earlier date (27th May).
    A striking document is the photo made in 1961 by Eric Hosking in the
    colony at Kisbalaton: this photo shows an adult Spoonbill standing on its
    nest, in which one egg is visible, while in the background about a dozen young
    1) In 1961 there were young ones as early as nth April, in 1962 not a single young
    one had hatched on 24th April.
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    493
    birds some 5 weeks old are walking around (cf. Mountfort, 1962, p. 153,
    plate XLd).
    Not only odd pairs but even whole groups may occasionally establish them
    selves at a late date. This was the case in 1951 when on 17th June I dis
    covered a colony of 54 nests (all containing eggs, 164 in all, 2 outside the
    nests not included) not far from the main settlement where the young were
    already 4 to 5 weeks old. Sixteen days later (on 3rd July) most of the nests
    of this “new” colony were empty and only 11 nests contained a small number
    of young ones (18 in all plus 1 egg). It is a mystery why these birds gained
    such poor results.
    I should point out here that the new settlements always started late in the
    season, mostly in June and that in several cases immature birds were involved
    in these attempts. It is quite understandable that such late-starting pairs and
    breeding parties were interpreted as birds that made a “second brood”. It
    was so to say a common opinion in the Netherlands ornithological literature
    of half a century ago that the Spoonbill was double-brooded. I cite here the
    explanation accompanying Burdet’s (1914) stereoscopic photos, running as
    follows: the first clutch, in April, comprises generally 4 or 5 .. . eggs, the
    second clutch, in June, has mostly 3 2 ).
    Even Heinroth (1931) when he visited the Zwanenwater colony was told
    that the birds are double-brooded: “Die Nester der leuchtend weissen Vogel
    stehn auf schlammigem Boden nur wenige Meter voneinander entfernt.
    Manche Junge waren um diese Zeit schon flugfahig und manche fast fliigge.
    Sie liessen mich dicht herankommen und gingen dann nur ein paar Schritte
    beiseite. Dazwischen waren frische Gelege, die, wie mir von sachkundiger Seite
    berichtet wurde, regelmassig von solchen Paaren gemacht werden, die schon
    f ruh im Jahre zur Fortpflanzung geschritten waren”. I think Heinroth’s state
    ment would be right if he had only added the words: “und ihre Brut verloren
    hatten”. For these late-breeding birds are, I think, either adults that have
    lost their first clutches, or birds which are reaching maturity during summer.
    Finally I want to quote here what Archer & Godman (1937) have written
    about the Somali Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia archeri. They tell us that the
    main breeding season of this subspecies on the Somali coast is the second
    half of April and May, but that the species is double-brooded and eggs are
    2) Oudemans (1909) made an interesting observation on 17th June 1908. In a part
    of the Naardermeer colony which was regularly shown to visitors, he saw four nests
    together: one containing nearly fledged young ones, one half-grown birds, one newly
    hatched young and the fourth nest (from which the young were known to have
    already flown) contained one egg and proved to have been put into use again. In
    1908 the first Spoonbills had arrived very early, viz. on 20th February.
    494
    G. A. BROUWER
    laid again between June and August. If one realizes that in the Netherlands
    the Spoonbill was not protected by law until 1912 and that up to the present
    this species is regarded in Arab countries — as far as I know — as not a
    sacred bird but a delicacy, it is easily understood that many (first) broods
    were lost in the Netherlands before 1912 and still are in Somalia and that
    many “second” or replacing broods can be expected3 ).
    Co-existence with Cormorants
    In former centuries Cormorants regularly formed part of the mixed bree
    ding colonies of herons and Spoonbills; this was so in the Zevenhuizensche
    Bosch, on the Schollevaarseiland and in the Horstermeer. There is a water
    colour of the last locality by Willem Roelofs which shows a mixed colony
    of Spoonbills and Cormorants nesting on the ground, with the Cormorants
    morants 4
    on some low leafless trees as well. But apart from the picture, Roelofs (1880)
    also wrote an interesting paper on this colony expressing his surprise that
    two so different birds could breed so closely together and that the Spoonbills,
    who are not naturally aggressive, do not apparently fear the greedy Cor
    ).
    During World War II the Cormorant colonies in our country suffered
    badly from disturbances: at Wanneperveen many young birds were taken
    for food and in 1946 this colony even moved into the Grote Otters decoy,
    but was not allowed to settle; at Lekkerkerk there was disturbance too and
    the birds of the Brabantse Biesbosch (Keizersdijk) ruined the trees on which
    they were nesting. As a consequence the birds made attempts at settling in
    many other places. In 1942 several hundred pairs tried to establish a colony
    in the Jan Hagensbos (Naardermeer), but as they stole the nesting material
    from the Purple Herons and it was feared they would disturb the Spoonbills
    too, it was decided to drive them away. In 1943 they made another attempt,
    3) Jourdain (in Witherby et al., 1939) states that the eggs are laid at intervals of
    several days and that incubation begins before completion of the clutch. Heinroth
    (1931) estimates the incubation period at some 3^ weeks, but no definite observations
    were made. The young leave the nest at about 4 weeks, but cannot fly freely till
    about three weeks later. So we may reckon for egg-laying, incubation and fledging
    period together at least 12 weeks, which makes it very unlikely that the Spoonbill
    would normally raise two broods.
    4) Roelofs (1822-1897) lived in Brussels, but as he stayed most summers at Korten
    hoef this picture must represent the mixed Spoonbill/Cormorant colony in the neigh
    bouring Horstermeer. Thijsse (1939) mistook Roelofs’s water-colour for a document
    of the Naardermeer. It is, however, very unlikely that Roelofs who wrote a paper
    on the Horstermeer colony, should have painted a similar colony in the Naardermeer.
    Moreover, there were no Cormorants in the Naardermeer in those years; they were
    cruelly driven away around i860 (Thijsse, 1912, p. 41).
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    495
    but were again driven away. But in 1947 they tried to settle once more and
    this time a limited number were allowed to breed, because outside the Naar
    dermeer conditions for the Cormorants had become worse: the total number
    amounted to only one half of the 3,500 pairs that were present in 1940
    and 1941.
    Meanwhile, it was necessary to limit the Cormorants because all of them
    seemed to prefer the Naardermeer; the breeding place in the Bakker’s decoy
    at Wanneperveen having lost its attraction since the fishing waters in the
    eastern part of the IJsselmeer had gradually disappeared as the Noord-Oost
    polder (1942) and the Oost-Flevoland polder (1957) were drained. But con
    siderations of preservation were not the only ones, the fishing interests also
    being in question and the fishery-authorities at that time did not allow more
    than 400 breeding pairs in the surroundings of Naarden. This number was
    raised to 500 pairs in 1952 and to 600 in 1961 as the steadily shrinking Wan
    neperveen colony proved to be the only other stronghold of the species in
    our country, the former colonies in the Delta area (Lekkerkerk, Biesbosch)
    having completely disappeared.
    Looking back over the period 1947-1963, we see that the Spoonbills
    repeatedly shifted their breeding place: in 1948 the main body left the Jan
    Hagensbos (no. 4) and settled at the Punt (no. 2), only a small number
    staying in the old place; in 1949 no. 4 (having been occupied for 13 years)
    was deserted, the main body preferring to establish a new home between
    Veertig Morgen and Siepeltjeskade (near no. 1). But later in the season a
    group returned to the Jan Hagensbos and here they settled in a new place
    (no. 6). As in those years the Cormorants occupied the northern part of the
    Jan Hagensbos the abandonment of breeding site no. 4 was obvious. On the
    other hand the total quiet of the Jan Hagensbos (since 1942 enlarged as far
    as the railway embankment) continued to attract the Spoonbills. It is dif
    ficult to prove, but I am all but convinced that both moves just mentioned
    occurred when the Cormorants became too numerous in the immediate
    vicinity of the Spoonbill colony. The move in 1963 from no. 6 to no. 7 I
    consider as such too. An aerial photo, taken without authorization on
    17th June 1954, gives a good idea of how closely both species intermingled
    in breeding place no. 6. This photo has previously been published in several
    books for example in Voous (i960) and also in “British Birds” (vol. 48,
    Dec. 1955, plate 68). Nevertheless I thought it important to reproduce it here
    once more (plate XXVII).
    It is tempting to mention some more details which affect the well-being
    of the Spoonbill population, viz. the fact that in long winters several birds
    that have returned early have failed to survive, or the loss of eggs, which
    496
    rablement ,
    G. A. BROUWER
    sometimes get outside the nests, etc. But that would be beyond the scope of
    this paper.
    I expect, however, that several readers will regret that so few young birds
    have been ringed and that up to the present day no thorough investigation
    into the life-circumstances of the Spoonbill has been made in one of our
    colonies. I can state here that such an investigation has now been planned,
    so I suppose it will start in the near future. But I want to stress that the
    young ones are rather vulnerable. If they are only a few days old one should
    take care that they are not exposed to fierce sunshine5 ). When they have
    attained the age of 3 to 4 weeks they leave their nests for the intruders and
    may get lost, especially in crowded colonies. Or to cite Dragesco (1961 b):
    “Les Spatules s’occupent avec beaucoup de diligence de leur progeniture,
    mais se desinteressent completement du poussin qui s’est ecarte de la colonic
    La plupart des jeunes qui sont tombes d’un nid, finissent par perir mise
    \ This justifies the method of strict preservation and obliges the
    research-worker to proceed with the utmost caution.
    III. THE SPOONBILL POPULATIONS IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
    For the conservationist it is important to know the status of a bird species
    throughout its range. This is especially so in the case of the Spoonbill,
    which is rather an uncommon species with a scattered distribution. It is
    for this reason that I want to comment here in a few words on the breeding
    colonies that still exist outside the Netherlands, that is in western and in
    south-eastern Europe.
    Western Europe
    Spain. — In this country there is still a small breeding population in the
    estuary of the Guadalquivir. The first reports on this bird-paradise came
    from English sportsmen and bird-photographers who were attracted by
    the multitudes of wildfowl and other birds that concentrated on the shallow
    lagoons and the wide grassy plains.
    It seems that Lodge was the first who saw the Spoonbills nesting on the
    5) O. Koenig (1952) has warned us in this respect: “Gefahrdung durch Sonnenhitze
    betrifft fast uberhaupt nur Gelege und noch unselbstandige Junge von Nesthockern,
    in erster Linie von Reihern und Lofflern. Werden die Vogel durch irgendwelche
    aussere Storungen an warmen, sonnigen Tagen von den Horsten gejagt, so sterben
    Embryonen sowohl wie geschliipfte Junge oft innerhalb einer knappen Viertelstunde
    den Hitzetod. Solange die Altvogel an den Horsten stehen, tritt diese Gefahr nicht
    ein, da sie die Horstmulde immer durch ihren Korperschatten schutzen. Loffler briiten
    ja an sehr heissen Tagen manchmal gar nicht, sondern beschranken sich auf das
    Abschatten der Eier. Jedwede Begehung von Kolonien sollte daher nur an triiben
    Tagen, bzw. in den zeitlichen Morgen- oder Abendstunden erfolgen”.
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    497
    lagoon of Santa Olalla in 1899; as the character of this place has changed
    greatly, the Spoonbills have left it long ago. Chapman (see Farren, 1914)
    records the finding in 1909 of a colony of 30 to 40 birds, whose nests were
    crowded together on the mud among bush-like plants of Salicornia and
    Suaeda on the open marisma. Beetham (1914) and Farren (1914) stayed
    in the Coto Donana in 1911 and 1912 and found about half-a-dozen nests
    in a mixed heronry and, as these nests were built on the lower branches
    of tamarisk bushes, they succeeded in taking some beautiful photographs.
    Mountfort (1958), describing the outcome of three ornithological expedi
    tions to the Coto Donana (1952, 1956 and 1957), mentioned a small colony
    just south of Huelva. Valverde stated in his report for the Technical Meeting
    of the U.I.C.N. at Athens (1958): “…il n’en reste en Espagne comme
    reproducteurs qu’une douzaine de couples dans une petite lagune de l’Anda
    lousie. II y a deux ans, elles ont perdu toutes leurs pontes”. This lagoon was
    probably the Laguna de las Madres, which has since been drained for peat
    digging. But in 1959 two or three pairs were breeding in the Coto Donana
    and reared young ones (Valverde, i960), and in i960 and 1962 the Spoon
    bill population on this estate was estimated at 40 pairs (De Vries, 1962).
    For breeding cases in former years, see Congreve (1943) and Irby (1895).
    From other western European countries only a few scattered cases of
    breeding are known in this century: several from Denmark, a recent one
    from Germany and a doubtful one from France. To state more precisely:
    Denmark. — Here the Spoonbill has been found breeding in northern
    and western Jutland on a few occasions, even in successive years, but it
    has not become established as a breeding bird (Jespersen, 1946; Loppenthin,
    1948). Holstein (1929) gave an illustrated description of such a breeding
    case in 1928, when two out of three pairs succeeded in rearing four young
    ones and Jespersen (1952) contributed two more photographs of a similar
    event.
    Germany. — In 1962 late in the season (20th July) a nest with 3 eggs
    was found on the island of Memmert, a bird sanctuary between Borkum
    and Juist. The birds bred for several weeks in vain: the eggs proved to be
    infertile. So the first breeding case on German territory was unsuccessful.
    The breeding pair formed part of a small group of Spoonbills (9 birds in
    all) which stayed in the neighbourhood of the breeding place (Pundt &
    Ringleben, 1963).
    France. — There was perhaps an incidental breeding case in 1946 in
    the reedbeds in the Loire estuary, but Douaud’s observations (1948) over
    five consecutive summers (1943-1947) are not quite convincing and it was
    probably only an attempt at breeding.
    31
    498
    G. A. BROUWER
    Perhaps I may add here a few older data: some 300 to 400 years ago
    Spoonbills still bred in England (Sussex, Middlesex, Kent (?), Norfolk
    and Suffolk; a map of the breeding places in the latter two counties was
    given by Gurney, 1921), in France (borders of Britanny and Poitou, men
    tioned by Belon, 1555) and in Portugal (about 1616 in the marshy ground
    at Almeirim, opposite Santarem on the river Tagus, see Tait, 1924).
    South-eastern Europe
    In south-eastern Europe the distribution of the Spoonbill coincides with
    the area that was covered by the shallow and brackish Sarmatic inland sea,
    which extended from Vienna eastwards to Tashkent in late Tertiary and
    Pleistocene times.
    The various nationalities and languages combined with the political changes
    which have taken place in this part of Europe considerably complicated the
    tracing of the breeding places. The following enumeration is certainly not
    complete, but it may give at least an impression of the situation. It is
    based in the first place on Makatsch (1950) and amplified with some
    earlier and other more recent data from literature. The sequence used in
    the following corresponds with the figures on the map (fig. 4).
    Czechoslovakia. — (1) Since 1949 a few Spoonbills have occasionally
    bred in the Lednitzer lakes area (Eisgrub) in southern Moravia (Jirsik,
    1956; Hanzak, 1958; Kux, 1963).
    Austria. — (2) The main part of the Neusiedler See ( = Ferto Tava)
    is Austrian territory, whilst a small southern part belongs to Hungary.
    This large shallow lake, covering some 30,000 hectares and about 1 m deep,
    is situated some 40 km SE of Vienna; in recent years it has become more
    and more a recreation centre. Usually two or three colonies of Spoonbills
    breed in the extensive reedbeds, some 200 to 250 pairs in all (O. Koenig,
    1952). Fluctuations of the waterlevel affected the breeding results in former
    years (O. Koenig, 1939, 1952; Zimmermann, 1944).
    Hungary. — (3) The Kisbalaton is a marsh of about 3.500 hectares with
    an inner sanctuary of about 970 hectares, situated at the extreme south
    western end of Lake Balaton (= Platten See). The latter is, according to
    Mountfort (1962), the most important recreation centre of the country:
    instead of unspoilt marshes, there are now holiday camps and hotels every
    few miles along its (northern) shore. Fortunately its little satellite Kisbalaton
    has been saved from exploitation and is now a strictly guarded and well
    managed sanctuary. The decline of Kisbalaton since 1890 is to be seen on
    the maps illustrating Schenk’s (1918) paper on the past and present breeding
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    499
    Fig. 4. Spoonbill colonies in south-eastern Europe (black dots: recent data available;
    circles: occasional breeding or no recent data available). Nos. 1, Lednitzer lakes (Eis
    grub); 2, Neusiedler See; 3, Kisbalaton; 4, Lake Velence (Dinnyes); 5, Hortobagy
    (fishponds); 6, Obedska bara; 7, Macva; 8, Nis; 9, Banat area (Perlasz); 10, Lake
    Katlanovo; 11, Lake Scutari; 12, Crna Reka (= Kara Su); 13, Danube, left bank;
    14, Danube delta; 15, Lake Manyas (Turkey).
    5°°
    G. A. BROUWER
    colonies of the Egrets in Hungary. This marsh is chiefly known as a breeding
    place for the Great White Heron (Egretta alba (L.)), but it also houses a fair
    colony of Spoonbills, whose numbers have fluctuated during the last 40
    years between o and 120 pairs, with an average of about 50 (fig. 5).
    (4) The Dinnyes Marshes, Lake Velence, near Szekesfehervar (= Stuhl
    weissenburg) about 50 km SSW of Budapest. The breeding of herons in
    these marshes was first mentioned in 1890; Lindner (1903) visited the
    spot in 1902 and stated that Spoonbills were breeding there too. According
    to the figures available the population of this marsh has seldom exceeded
    25 pairs since 1930, although in some years (1941, 1948) there were about
    60 to 80 pairs, in 1951 even 150 (Szijj, 1951). In 1962 Mountfort was
    able to ascertain 17 occupied nests.
    150 -1
    1910
    1920
    1930
    1940
    1950
    1960
    Fig. 5. Diagram showing the fluctuations of the Spoonbill population of the Kisbalaton
    during the period 1909-1962. No figures are available for 1909-1911, 1913-1921, and
    1958-1960. In 1943 no breeding took place.
    (5) Fishponds in the Hortobagy. Homonnay (i960) drew attention to
    a group of some 60 pairs of Spoonbills that had settled in a 50-60 m wide
    reedbed of fishpond no. 5, where they reared their young. I imagine this
    was more or less an incidental breeding case, but as it seems that rice
    culture is being constantly extended in this area, Spoonbills may perhaps
    settle down more regularly in these fishponds.
    According to Szijj (1951) the total Spoonbill population of Hungary
    amounted in 1951 to 220 breeding pairs (Lake Velence 150, Kisbalaton 53
    and 16 to 19 pairs distributed over 4 or 5 other breeding places).
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    Yugoslavia. — (6) The “Obedska bara”, a former meander of the river
    Sava near Kupinovo, some 40 km WSW from Belgrade, belonged to Hungary
    before the First World War. It is one of the classic resorts for marsh
    birds known from 1835 onwards and was visited in the last century by several
    distinguished ornithologists, among them J. F. Naumann accompanied by
    J. S. Petenyi in 1835, and W. Eagle Clarke in 1883. Some fifty years ago
    Schenk (1908) and Rossler (1910) wrote interesting papers on this heronry,
    in which nine species nested together (six of the heron tribe with Glossy
    Ibises, Spoonbills and Pygmy Cormorants). The size of this colony was
    estimated at 12,810 breeding pairs in 1869, I SJ 0 0 0 pairs in 1883, 6,500 pairs
    in 1902 and 8,000 pairs in 1908. This enormous concentration of herons
    was only possible because of the presence of vast feeding grounds in the
    Bara itself, in the “Kupinski Kut”, in the “Zivacka bara” and in other
    marshes in former Serbia. The corresponding figures for the Spoonbills
    alone, which nested mostly in the reedbeds alongside the heronry, were 300
    pairs in 1838, 350 in 1869, 500 in 1902 and 1,000 in 1908 (see Rossler,
    1910, p. 229). More recently Steinmetz (1931) investigated this colony;
    his copious notes show an alarming decrease: he estimated the population
    in 1930 at 2890 breeding pairs (eight species) and the number of Spoon
    bills at about 60 pairs. This decrease was chiefly due to the shrinking of
    the former feeding grounds of which the Bara itself and the “Kupinski Kut”
    fell off. The reports of Geroudet (1958) and J. F. & M. Terrasse (1961),
    who visited the “Obedska bara” in 1957 and 1959 respectively, give only
    few details and no figures. One gain is that the “Obedska bara” itself is
    now strictly preserved.
    There is no recent information concerning (7) the marshes of the Macva
    and in the bend of the Danube, but Lintia (1916) recorded that the Spoon
    bill bred there only occasionally. Nothing new is known of (8), a breeding
    place in the neighbourhood of Nis; the latter place was mentioned by Strese
    mann (1920), who examined three birds which were collected there in 1918.
    I want to mention here two more breeding places about which sure data
    from recent years are lacking, i.e.:
    (9) the surroundings of Perlasz (Torontal) in the Banat area. Vasvari
    (1942) mentioned the municipality Ozora in the floodplain of the river
    Temes (1,200 hectares). Here he visited a wood with a mixed heronry on
    26th June 1939 and learned that about 20 breeding pairs of Spoonbills were
    nesting in reedbeds nearby. Geroudet (1958) reported on the Carska bara
    and the Perlezka bara (= Feher-to, south of Nagybecskerek) along the
    river Bega where he saw about 50 Spoonbills on 20th April 1957, but the
    birds were not nesting.
    S02
    G. A. BROUWER
    (10) Lake Katlanovo near Skopje (= Uskiib). Makatsch (1950) men
    tioned that in former years there was a colony of 30 to 40 pairs at Lake
    Ajvatovac, but as this lake had been drained the only suitable habitat for
    Spoonbills in this region would be Lake Katlanovo.
    (11) Lake Scutari, belonging partly to Yugoslavia and partly to Albania,
    is a big lake. It is 40 km long, 10 to 15 km wide and only a few metres
    deep. The most important parts of marshland are on Yugoslavian territory
    (see map in L’Oiseau et R.F.O., vol. 31, p. 118). Von Fuehrer (1934) collected
    a male Spoonbill here in April 1932 and Makatsch (1950) mentioned this
    lake as a breeding resort of the species. J. F. & M. Terrasse (1961) visited
    the north-western corner of the lake (between Vir-Pazar and Plavnica,
    the “fjord” of Rijeka included) in 1959; they noted four species of herons
    and many Glossy Ibises, but failed to see Spoonbills.
    (12) The marshes on the river Crna Reka (= Kara Su), east of Bitolj
    (= Monastir). Makatsch (1950) accompanied by Anta Ilic, a local orni
    thologist, visited these marshes in 1938 and 1939. He wrote that there were
    two colonies in 1938; the one they visited consisted of about 80 nests. In
    1939 there were four colonies with a total population of 200 pairs. Twenty
    years later, when J. F. & M. Terrasse visited this region, there were still
    many herons and they spotted Spoonbills too, but, sad to say, bulldozers
    were everywhere in full action and the whole area, covering some 12,000
    to 14,000 hectares, was being destroyed!
    Bulgaria. — Although Niethammer (1938) wrote that the Spoonbill bred
    “in den Donauniederungen Bulgariens”, a statement that was apparently
    copied by Makatsch (1950), neither of them indicated definite breeding
    places. Mountfort with some companions travelled through Bulgaria in i960,
    visited several suitable localities for marsh birds, including Lake Sreburna
    and the lakes along the Black Sea coast; at the latter lakes they came
    across a small number of non-breeding Spoonbills (all those examined were
    immature). So, contrary to Pateff (1950), who said that this species still
    bred on the Danube, Mountfort & Ferguson-Lees (1961) doubted whether
    it still does so, though they agreed that there are a few very small colonies
    on the Rumanian side of the river.
    Rumania. — (13) For that reason the last-named colonies are marked
    on the map (fig. 4) as no. 13 (between Popino and Silistra, but on
    Rumanian territory).
    (14) The Danube delta (Balta). Bernatzik, who explored the Balta in
    1929 found there a few small Spoonbill colonies (one comprising just over
    10 pairs). Munteanu (i960) got a similar impression of the status of this
    bird: “Aujourd’hui on ne la trouve plus que dans les marais et le Delta du
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    503
    Danube, dans un petit nombre de colonies formees seulement de 4 a 8
    nids”. From the report of Ferguson-Lees & Cramp (1962), who visited
    the delta for 17 days in May 1961 (in company of Mr. Gheorghe Andone,
    who has been in charge of scientific and conservation studies in the delta
    for the past eight years), we get a somewhat different and more favourable
    impression. They mentioned that Spoonbills were seen in small numbers
    in most areas; in the big heronry of about 10,000 pairs they visited, the
    Spoonbills (estimated at 100 pairs) were by far the least numerous, com
    pared with 4,000 to 5,000 Glossy Ibises, 2,500 Night Herons, 2,000 Squacco
    Herons, 500 to 600 Little Egrets and 1,000 Pygmy Cormorants. There are
    about twenty mixed heronries in the Delta, though mostly smaller than the
    one just mentioned.
    delta 6
    Greece. — In Greece the Spoonbill is only known as a bird of passage.
    Though it was my intention to restrict this enumeration to the colonies
    of Hungary and the Balkans, I cannot refrain from mentioning here two
    more papers dealing with this subject, i.e.:
    (a) Dementiev & Gladkov’s “Systema Avium Rossicarum” (i960), which
    gives a detailed account of the distribution of the Spoonbill in the U.S.S.R.,
    recording even the long-distance recovery of a nestling ringed in the Volga
    ) and shot near Bombay.
    (b) Schiiz’s (1957) paper on the big heronry at Lake Manyas (Turkey),
    about 15 km south of the Sea of Marmara (no. 15). In this mixed heronry
    the Spoonbill is the most numerous species with circa 500 pairs, all nesting
    on huge willows. In 1955 and later years several young Spoonbills have been
    ringed here, giving very interesting results 7 ).
    I may add here one single breeding attempt from north-western Africa:
    a Spoonbill has nested on Lake Fetzara, in the north-eastern corner of
    Algeria; according to Heim de Balsac & Mayaud (1962), Zedlitz would
    have mentioned an egg (from an incomplete clutch) obtained here on 9th
    May by the collector Spatz. This is the only indication for the breeding
    of the species in north-western Africa.
    6) The Astrakhan Sanctuary (which was established in 1919) houses a pretty large
    Spoonbill colony; at the end of the breeding season 1938 or 1939 some 710 Spoon
    bills were counted here. There is a research station attached to this sanctuary (Harber,
    1955; Kurockin, 1963).
    7) From eight ringed nestlings recovered abroad in their first year two were
    recorded in Israel, one in Egypt, one in the Sudan, three at the mouth of the
    Euphrates near Basra and one in the coastal mangroves near Karachi, Pakistan. So
    the records show that some of these birds travel on a south-eastern route.
    5°4
    G. A. BROUWER
    IV. IS THERE ANY CONTACT BETWEEN THE POPULATIONS OF
    WESTERN AND EASTERN EUROPE ?
    Thijsse (1906) wrote a brilliant chapter on the history and the behaviour
    of the Spoonbill and he also gave a lively description of a visit to their
    breeding colony in the Naardermeer (Thijsse, 1912). But he was indulging
    in phantasy when he imagined that our Spoonbills had their winter quarters
    in the Nile delta and that they connected Amsterdam with Alexandria even
    more than our White Storks do. At the time Thijsse’s writings appeared
    the bird-marking experiments had not yet been started, so that he can not be
    blamed for this statement. However, Thijsse was such an authority that
    his incorrect idea was adopted by later biologists writing on the flora and
    fauna of the Naardermeer (cf. Van Zinderen Bakker’s monograph, 1942,
    p. 124) and even this year (1963) one of our newspapers mentioned the
    Nile delta as the winter quarter of our Spoonbills.
    (490
    In 1935 Tekke gave a review of the ring finds (21 in all) of the Dutch
    Spoonbills, showing that these birds fly in a south-western direction on
    their autumn migration, following the coasts of the Channel and the Atlantic
    as far south as north-western Africa and that there is no distinct in
    dication of a migration route in a south-eastern direction as used by many
    of the White Storks inhabiting the Netherlands (Haverschmidt, 1949). The
    only recoveries from localities over 100 km inland are from France; one
    refers to a 3 or 4-year old bird in June at Lavannes, Dept. Marne
    16′ N 40 4′ E), the other to one taken in the beginning of August in
    St. Puy, Dept. Gers (430 53′ N o° 28′ E).
    More spectacular, though with several gaps, is the picture of the migration
    routes of the Spoonbill populations of western and eastern Europe as pre
    sented by Schiiz & Weigold (1931, map 21), because this picture shows
    clearly that both populations migrate separately and that they probably have
    separate winter quarters too. But at the time the research for the above
    mentioned map was closed (30th June 1930) the winter quarters of the
    Netherlands Spoonbill population were not yet known, records of ringed
    birds from the months November to February being still lacking, except
    for one record of no importance.
    More Spoonbills have been ringed in the thirty-three years which have
    since passed, so I looked through the ringing reports that have been issued
    up to the present in order to trace in what respect the picture has been
    changed.
    The marking of Spoonbills in the Netherlands has never been practised
    regularly, but only occasionally in the breeding colony of the Zwanenwater.
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    505
    In the Naardermeer and the Muy (Texel), which were declared official
    nature reserves nearly 60 years ago, ringing was not allowed for the safety
    of the birds as it might cause too much disturbance on the almost inacces
    sible breeding places. In Hungary (Kisbalaton), however, ringing was done
    more systematically and the same applies to Austria (Neusiedler See). The
    following statement of the numbers of nestlings marked in these three
    countries may give an idea of the situation.
    TABLE I
    Ringing
    place
    Naardermeer
    Zwanenwater
    Obedska bara
    Kisbalaton
    Neusiedler See
    Years
    1909—1910
    1912— 1941
    1955—1962
    1908—1912
    1913— I95i
    1946—1959
    Numbers Numbers
    ringed
    recovered
    The Netherlands
    16
    243
    156
    Hungary
    48
    1384
    Austria
    506
    3
    33
    15
    2
    52
    17 -fx
    Remarks
    Rate of
    recovery
    19%
    13.5%
    10%
    4%
    37%
    marked with rings
    from Rossitten
    the Kisbalaton fi
    gures include some
    birds ringed at
    Dinnyes (Lake Ve
    lence)
    marked with rings
    from Radolfzell
    The figures in table I are based on the ringing reports from Hungary
    and the Netherlands (see “References” under R); the ringing results of
    Austria (on the Neusiedler See, with rings from Radolfzell) have not
    been published, but Dr. Rudolf Kuhk kindly sent me the records of the
    nestlings that were marked at this lake and recovered abroad. If we ignore
    five recoveries from Hungary and Yugoslavia there are twelve left; from
    this dozen eight birds were reported on the south-western migration route
    and four on the south-eastern. Specified, of the eight birds on the former
    route two were found in Calabria, three in Sicily, two in Tunisia and one
    in the Sahara (ESE of Ouargla, about 290 N 6° 30′ E); of the four birds
    on the south-eastern route three were found in Greece (Epirus, Arta, and
    the mouth of the river Vardar), and one in Egypt (El Fajum).
    On the accompanying map (fig. 6) 46 records from the Netherlands
    (only birds from abroad), 50 records from Hungary (only birds found
    over 250 km from the ringing place) and two records from Austria have
    been marked. This means that since the preparation of Schuz & Weigold’s
    “Atlas” (1931: map 21; one long-distance find on the island Corvo, Azores
    506
    G. A. BROUWER
    is shown on map 38), the number of recoveries has nearly been quadrupled;
    among these recoveries the records from Africa rose from one in 1930 to
    twenty-four in 1963. So it is self-evident that our knowledge of the mi
    gration routes and winter quarters of both Spoonbill populations has in
    creased a good deal.
    Fig. 6. Recoveries of Spoonbills ringed in the Netherlands (black dots), in Hungary
    (black triangles), and in Austria (white triangles).
    In the meantime our opinion of 1935 about the migration route of the
    Netherlands Spoonbill population has not changed. This migration route
    appears as a narrow flight line along the Atlantic coast provided with a
    number of attractive stages at the estuaries of the various rivers: Somme,
    Seine, Loire, Gironde, Vouga, Guadalquivir or at tidal flats and marshes
    near the coast. Not a single record indicates a detour to the Camargue or
    the lagoons along the Golfe du Lion, although the distance between Arca
    chon and Beziers is less than 400 km.
    Apart from two ringfinds on the Canary Islands in 1931 two more records
    became known from the coast of the African continent which add consider
    ably to our understanding of the course of the migration route beyond the
    Straits of Gibraltar. These two records refer to a 5-year old bird shot at
    Mulei-bu-Selham (Merdja-es-Serga) on the Moroccan coast (over 100 km
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    507
    north of Rabat) and to a i-year old bird found in June in a shrivelled state on
    the He Arel, Banc d’Arguin, off the coast of Mauritania, at latitude 190 50′
    north. This is the southernmost record of a bird of the Netherlands population.
    More complicated are the migration routes of the Hungarian population:
    the greater proportion of these birds seems to follow a south-western course
    and the rest a south-eastern one. Schenk (1922) provided these migration
    routes with Latin names and he distinguished inter alia a via adriatica
    orientalis, tarentica, siciliensis, tunesica-algerica, which crosses the Straits
    of Otranto near Corfu and seems to be a favourite route for the Kisbalaton
    Spoonbills to reach their winter quarters along the Tunisian coasts.
    Judging from these records I should say that, apart from the Hungarian
    bird that was found in the Camargue on 19th October 8 ), there seems to
    be a strip of no man’s land on the European side of the Mediterranean
    between longitude 40 W and 8° E and that there is no contact between the
    Hungarian Spoonbills and those of the Netherlands on their regular migra
    tion routes.
    But it is not sufficient to rely on ringing records only, so I may state
    that only solitary vagrants have been observed in most parts of Europe,
    in Germany chiefly in the north-western part, but also in southern Germany,
    where on 7th May 1933 by way of exception a group of 18 birds visited
    the Ismaninger barrage-lake, proceeding the same day. In Switzerland too
    the species is only exceptionally seen, for example on the lakes of the flat
    country between the Jura and the Alps (Haller, 1951).
    Of extraordinary importance is what Heim de Balsac & Mayaud (1962)
    have written on the migration of the Spoonbill in north-western Africa;
    therefore I want to quote them here more or less in full:
    “Des Spatules peuvent etre vues a peu pres toute Tannee en Afrique
    du Nord: Loche specifiait n’en avoir pas trouve de nid, et Blanchet se
    demande si les sujets vus en ete nichent. Parmi les sujets qui estivent figurent
    des immatures: sujet hongrois d’un an repris le 3 aout pres Tunis.
    La migration post-nuptiale a lieu a partir de septembre: hongrois et
    yougoslave (6) repris a Kairouan, Sousse, Sfax, Gabes et Tripoli, 20 sep
    tembre a 20 octobre; hollandais dans le Nord du Rharb, 30 septembre;
    observations a Tembouchure de la Moulouya 20, 26 septembre, au lac de
    8) In October 1930, when the bird bearing the Hungarian ring was shot, two parties
    of Spoonbills were seen in the Rhone delta, one at Stes Maries and the other at Esqui
    neau. This was the first observation of the species in the Camargue (Glegg, 1931, 1941
    and 1943). Later on Mountfort (1936) saw three birds near Stes Maries on 18-19 May
    !935- Very rarely vagrants have been found on Corsica, on the Balearic Islands and in
    the Ebro delta, cf. respectively Mayaud (1936), Munn (1934) and Bernis (1956).
    So8
    G. A. BROUWER
    Mehdia 21 aout au 28 novembre (Brosset, Frete).
    L’espece hiverne en nombre appreciable, surtout sur le lac de Tunis et
    les lagunes de Tunisie (reprises d’autrichiens (2) et hongrois (s) en Tunisie
    et Libye de decembre a fevrier); mais aussi en Algerie et au Maroc jusqu’au
    Sous (18 octobre, Meinertzhagen) et meme au Banc d’Arguin (un hollandais
    retrouve la et 3 sujets bagues apergus par Roux).
    Au printemps ces hivernants partent (nombreux a Larache 9 ) en avril,
    Irby), laissant quelques estivants qk et la (Sous, 29 mai, Lynes; lac de
    Tunis, Blanchet).
    Si Tespece descend jusqu’au Sud de la Tunisie et au Banc d’Arguin,
    elle ne parait guere traverser le Sahara: tout au plus un sujet a-t-il ete vu
    pres Sebha (Fezzan) le 5 octobre (Snow et Manning) et un autrichien
    repris dans le Grand Erg Oriental a 320 km au Sud d’Hassi-Messaoud, le
    15 octobre. Par ailleurs Tespece hiverne de TEgypte au Soudan qu’elle atteint
    en remontant le Nil: hongrois repris en Egypte et au Soudan, et pres
    de Niamey (fevrier)”.
    I think from this long quotation one point is of major importance for
    us, i.e. the ring-find of that one-year old bird on the He Arel (Banc d’Arguin)
    in combination with Roux’s observations of three ringed Spoonbills in the
    same area. This probably means the solution of the mystery of the location
    of the Dutch Spoonbill’s winter quarters. But let us first see what the recent
    explorations of the Banc d’Arguin have brought to light.
    V. DISCOVERY OF A POPULATION OF PLATALEA LEUCORODIA,
    BREEDING ON SOME ISLANDS OFF AFRICA’S WEST COAST
    Until recently ornithologists were of the general opinion that the breeding
    places of the Western Spoonbill population were confined to the Nether
    lands and Southern Spain, as indicated by Voous (i960, map 32) 1 0 ).
    In 1959, however, TAbbe Rene de Naurois (1959) made a remarkable
    discovery during his three short ornithological visits to the islands of the
    Banc d’Arguin, off the coast of Mauritania, at about latitude 200 N.
    This archipelago with its shallow waters, tidal mudflats, salt lagoons
    and almost inaccessible islands was still a terra incognita from the orni
    thological point of view. It proved to be the home of some tens of thou
    sands of seabirds belonging to 15 different species: Pelicans, Flamingoes,
    Cormorants (2 species), Herons (2 species), Spoonbills, Gulls (2 species)
    and Terns (6 species) !
    9) This is El-Araisch on the coast 120 km South of Tanger.
    10) In the English and German editions, however, the Banc d’Arguin is indicated by
    a red point at latitude 200 N.
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    509
    Between the beginning of March and the middle of June Naurois visited
    practically all the islands, mapped the various breeding colonies and made
    ecological and biological observations.
    For convenience Naurois distinguished three groups of islands, viz. from
    north to south:
    (a) a northern group of three islands in the Baie d’Arguin, named He
    Marguerite, He de TArdent and He d’Arguin with 3 or 4 accessory islets
    without names (latitude about 200 35′ N), together with the “He des Pelicans”
    in the Baie du Levrier (latitude 200 47′ N).
    (b) a middle group of three small islands: He Kiaone-Ouest, He Kiaone
    Est and He Chickchitt (latitude 200 N).
    (c) a southern group around the large He Tidra (latitude about 190 45′ N),
    composed of some 7 to 10 islands, viz. two larger ones (He Tidra and He
    Kiji) and eight smaller ones (lie Arel, He Nairr, He Zira, He Touffat,
    He Cheddid and 3 nameless ones).
    The size and the character of these islands vary a great deal. With the
    exception of the He Tidra (which is nearly 30 km long) the islands are
    not longer than 8 km, several of them being only a few hundred metres
    in diameter. Some islands are rocky, rising to some 10 or 15 m above sea
    level (the Kiaones, Chickchitt and Arel), others possess a sandy soil and
    are rather flat with a scanty vegetation of halophytes (Nairr, Zira, Touffat
    and Cheddid).
    Inaccessibility from the mainland plays an important role in the welfare
    of the birds, as the presence of jackals and even hyenas is incompatible
    with the breeding of seabirds; this is in fact the reason for the absence
    of bird colonies of any size on the islands Chickchitt, Nairr, Kiji and Tidra,
    which are separated from the mainland by narrow and shallow channels only.
    Furthermore Naurois observed that there were many more birds on the
    islands of the middle and southern groups than on those of the northern
    group, which might be due either to a richer marine life in the more southern
    waters or to a less suitable breeding habitat on the northern islands. He
    estimated the population of the breeding birds of the whole archipelago
    (Flamingoes not included) at some 20,000 to 30,000 birds, viz.
    1,000 to 2,000 birds in the northern group,
    5,000 to 8,000 birds in the middle group and
    15,000 to 20,000 birds in the southern group.
    Not all the bird species breed in the same season; two of them (Pelecanus
    onocrotalus L. and Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus (Lichtenstein)) have their
    breeding season in the autumn and winter; the other thirteen species breed
    in spring and summer.
    G. A. BROUWER
    Among these breeding birds — the Flamingo again excluded as its breeding
    in the area is too irregular — the Royal Tern (Sterna maxima albididorsalis
    Hartert) ranks first together with the African Cormorant (Phalacrocorax
    africanus (J. F. Gmelin)) and the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). As re
    gards the latter Naurois ascertained that it was breeding on six of the
    islands and he estimated the number of breeding pairs at: 80 to 120 on
    He Marguerite, 30 on He de l’Ardent, 100 to 130 on He Kiaone-Ouest,
    800 to 1,400 on Zira, 1,000 to 2,000 on He Touffat and a fairly large but
    unknown number on Cheddid, where the situation was not quite clear. Nau
    rois does not give figures for the total number of breeding Spoonbills, but
    Dragesco (1961c) states that this number amounts to 2,000 pairs. Elsewhere
    lower figures are given, fluctuating between 1,250 to 1,850 pairs (Heim
    de Balsac & Mayaud, 1962, p. 70).
    Dragesco (1961a) pointed out that the bird colonies of this archipelago
    are not of a recent date, they were already there in the 16th century as in
    dicated in an old narrative.
    Naurois’ discovery brought to light two important facts, viz.:
    (a) that until now we have never realized that the Spoonbills living in
    western Europe (Netherlands and Spain) represent only a part of the
    total population living on the Atlantic coasts of Europe and north-western
    Africa.
    400
    (b) that the breeding area of the southern representatives is also used
    as winter quarters by their northern relatives. So that there is a regular
    contact between our Spoonbills and those of the Banc d’Arguin.
    This annual contact is bound to have something to do with the fluctu
    ations observed in the occupation of the Netherlands Spoonbill colonies.
    Finally I should like to point out that from the geographical distribution
    angle these colonies (longitude 160 W) form a remarkable counterpart of
    the Spoonbill colonies on the Dahlak Islands in the Red Sea (longitude
    E, latitude 150 to 160 N). The latter colonies were visited by Von
    Heuglin in 1857, over a century ago; in 1928 Neumann described this Spoon
    bill as Platalea leucorodia archeri; it is slightly smaller than the nominate
    race. This form also inhabits Fatmah Island off Assab and Saad e’ Din
    Island off Zeila on the Somali coast, where there is a large breeding colony
    (Archer & Godman, 1937).
    VI. PERSECUTION BY MANKIND, DESTRUCTION OF HABITATS AND ATTEMPTS
    AT PRESERVATION
    The Spoonbill is a harmless bird that does not interfere with vital human
    interests. Nevertheless there are two main threats to its survival. These are
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    5″
    the persecution by mankind and the gradual destruction of its breeding
    habitat and favourite feeding grounds.
    The Spoonbill has always represented a certain economic value and so
    its persecution by man was almost universal. But on the other hand this
    remarkable bird has always aroused the interest of ornithologists by its
    peculiar appearance and habits and by its aesthetic performances in flight
    when it takes wing or alights on the breeding place.
    Persecution by mankind
    A few details from western European countries about the persecution of
    the Spoonbill may give an idea of the improving position of this bird.
    The Netherlands. — In this country the character of the persecution has
    changed considerably in the course of three to four centuries.
    In the 17th century this bird was reckoned among the “noble game birds”,
    which might only be captured by the hawks of privileged nobility. On the
    other hand in the famous heronry in the Zevenhuizensche Bosch the young
    Spoonbills (together with young Cormorants, Grey and Night Herons) were
    shaken from their nests before they could fly (by using long poles with iron
    hooks). This was done three times during the breeding season, the young
    birds being sold in the neighbouring towns. It seems that the young Spoon
    bills were considered to be prime eating, for they were even shipped to
    England for the table of King James; the young Cormorants, however, did
    not appeal to the English consumers (Brouwer, 1954, p. 158).
    In the 19th century tastes had changed and instead of the young birds the
    eggs of the Spoonbill had come into demand. So the tenant-farmers of the
    marshes made it their job to collect the eggs and this they did so thoroughly
    (twice a week during May and June), that they nearly killed the goose that
    laid the golden eggs 1 1 ). Apparently some of these eggs found their way to
    egg-collectors (cf. Wolley & Newton, 1905-1907, p. 486). Additionally some
    young birds were caught for the aviaries of amateur aviculturists.
    But ever since the Bird Law of 1912, providing complete protection for
    the Spoonbill, has been properly enforced, persecution has almost completely
    stopped: the shooting of a Spoonbill is an exception nowadays.
    Great Britain. — The British people too have become more protection
    11) Van Bemmelen (1866) mentioned that in 1851 the Horstermeer colony was
    estimated at a thousand breeding pairs. This is perhaps an exaggeration, but as in that
    same year 1,600 Spoonbill eggs were collected in one week in the middle of the breeding
    season (the eggs being taken every Wednesday and Saturday) a total of 650-750 breeding
    pairs seems not to be exaggerated.
    5″
    G. A. BROUWER
    minded since the last century; the three following pronouncements may
    prove this.
    Sir Thomas Browne (circa 1662) stated: “The Platea or Shovelard,
    which… formerly built in the Hernery at Claxton and Reedham; now at
    Trimley in Suffolk. They come in March, and are shot by fowlers, not for
    their meat, but their handsomeness” (quoted from Yarrell, 1884-1885,
    p. 238).
    Gould (1868) gave a vivid description of the killing on 23rd Oct. 1865 0 1
    two Spoonbills, male and female of the year, at Kingsbury Reservoir, Middle
    sex, by two fowlers and he characterizes the hospitality offered to this
    bird by his fellow-countrymen as follows: “Once landed, persecution awaits
    them; every gunner is their enemy, and they are not allowed to rest until
    the fatal shot terminates their wandering”.
    Sixty years later Riviere (1930) could make a quite different statement:
    “Although it is probably close on three hundred years since Spoonbills nested
    in the county [= Norfolk], their regular presence here each summer, and
    the immunity from disturbance which they now enjoy, encourages one to
    hope that one day a pair may again breed, perhaps in the Reedham Heronry
    as of yore, and that a Norfolk breeding race of these grand birds may be
    re-established as in the case of the Bittern”.
    Spain. — The rather low standard of living in rural Spain may have
    influenced the way in which the inhabitants took every possible profit from
    their wild life. In this respect the situation in the marismas of the Guadal
    quivir is vividly described by Abel Chapman (1928), the hunter-naturalist,
    who passed some forty seasons wildfowling (from 1872 onwards) in this
    bird-paradise. His statements are not optimistic, but as the situation seems
    to be turning out better now, I cannot refrain from quoting him:
    “On winter evenings in Donana, we were wont… to hold discussions with
    our keen-eyed forest-guards — not only on cynegetic schemes and problems,
    but also on the ways and life-habits of their wild charges, furred and
    feathered. Many of these valued friends of ours were thoroughly trustworthy
    witnesses of the wild-life amidst which their years were spent, and true
    lessons in natural history these palavers often formed…
    Up to about twenty years ago [this was written in 1907] flamingoes
    nested — or attempted to nest — in these marismas every spring,
    whenever a sufficiency of water warranted their doing so. Yet it is grievous
    to record that, in our belief, never a single young flamingo has been fledged
    in all this region! Our veteran keepers — men versed in wildfowl lore — have
    never known of such an event. Neither Vasquez nor Vergara, on the marismas
    of Donana, have ever seen so much as a single young flamingo actually
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    513
    hatched-out: while Clarita, keeper of the vaster marismas of Las Nuevas
    outside, though he has seen many young in the nests, asserts positively that,
    during his fifty-odd years’ experience, none have been reared and fledged.
    It is a melancholy record: yet the reason is not far to seek. Thus, one spring
    in the early nineties, from a single “pajarera” 12 ) the egg-poachers carried
    off thirty arrobas (750 lb.) of flamingoes’ eggs — some being still left
    behind as the canoes could carry no more! It is the enormous quantities that
    can thus be gathered at a single spot that induce the professional “hueveros”
    (egg-lifters) of San Lucar … to ravage the marismas far and wide.
    No chance and no quarter is given to beast or bird — fresh eggs or hard
    set, it makes no difference! There are those, we were told, who prefer eggs
    “empollados” to “claros” I The smaller eggs, such as coots, stilts, terns, red
    shanks, etc., sell at a halfpenny: those of gulls, avocets, and the like at a
    trifle more, while spoonbills command a penny. Flamingoes, of course, re
    present the premio gordo, not only because they are so big, but because, once
    a colony is discovered, it provides a boat-load for the gathering. These eggs
    are said to be the worst eating; but then, in hungry Spain, “two will make
    a dinner for a family” !
    Our efforts as “missionaries” among these wild men of the wilderness
    have proved quite useless. I am not quite sure that we have even driven
    home a proper sense of shame in the minds of our own keepers! For on one
    occasion when a company of spoonbills, seventy pairs strong, had settled
    down to nest at the Algaidilla, close by the shores of Donana, dear old Vas
    quez helped himself to every egg, and no spoonbill has ever appeared there
    since. Yet Vasquez feels no shame!. ..
    As for the rest, every herdsman in spring carries a canastro (basket) at
    his saddle-bow, to gather every egg he can set eyes on. What chance have
    the birds?”.
    Furthermore, egg-collectors and their dealers had their share in the perse
    cution of our bird. I may quote here a few notes to illustrate this assertion.
    From the “Ootheca Wolleyana”, for example, we know that John Wolley’s
    collection contained 77 Spoonbill’s eggs, most of them carefully selected from
    the several hundreds Dr. Frere had in stock. These eggs were bought in
    Leadenhall Market in the years 1845-1851 a n d all came from the Nether
    lands. One typical case: an egg, that was obtained in 1844 from Mr. M.,
    who said he had them from Yarmouth and that they bred there; of course
    a great lie! Irby (1895) mentions that Spoonbills nested in the marisma in
    12) breeding place.
    32
    5H
    G. A. BROUWER
    some wet seasons, and also in the Soto Torero, near Vejer, where sad to
    relate, a Spaniard in 1873 took upwards of seventy eggs early in May. He
    took most of these eggs to Gibraltar, to some collectors who were there at
    that time.
    The modern way in egg-collecting (taking complete clutches) was prac
    tised by Alexander Koenig (1932), who kept within bounds, and by Ma
    katsch and Ilic, who collected rather thoroughly in Macedonia in 1938-1939;
    they took together 160 eggs in the Crna Reka marshes for their oological
    studies; after this acquisition the former’s private collection numbered
    54 clutches (= 191 eggs).
    Finally, inexperienced bird photographers have occasionally disturbed
    small Spoonbill colonies as is described by Bernatzik (1929).
    Destruction of habitats and attempts at preservation
    The indirect persecution in the shape of the gradual destruction of its
    breeding habitat and favourite feeding grounds is equally serious.
    It is nearly superfluous to mention here once more the numerous drainage
    and reclamation schemes which have been realized in the Netherlands or the
    disastrous result (for the marsh birds) of the regularizations of the rivers
    Danube, Tisza, Temes etc. in historic Hungary, on which Schenk (1918)
    wrote such an interesting report. In the past fifteen years reclamation and
    other deteriorating activities have also been carried out in the estuaries of
    the Guadalquivir and the Rhone, in the Balkans (Crna Reka!), in North
    West Africa (mouth of Wadi Moulouya, Lac Fetzara) and in a good many
    other places, with the result that the total area of marshes and other wetlands
    has decreased to such an extent that last year three international organiza
    tions for the conservation of nature and the preservation of birds thought
    it necessary to sound the alarm. These organizations were: the International
    Union for the Conservation of Nature and its natural Resources (I.U.C.N.),
    the International Council for the Preservation of Birds (C.LP.O.) and the
    International Wildfowl Research Bureau (I.W.R.B.). They jointly organized
    a special conference, “Projet MAR”, at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Camar
    gue, France), where from 12 to 17 November 1962 over 80 experts from
    16 different countries, among them Australia (1), Canada (1), Yugoslavia
    (2), Morocco (1), Spain (6) and U.S.A. (6), were present to discuss the
    more than 50 papers sent to the participants beforehand. Some nine recom
    mendations and an urgency-list of European and North African marshes and
    wetlands that should be secured, were the results.
    In the meantime a “World Wildlife Fund” was founded, destined to
    finance the safeguarding of the last remnants of flora and fauna and their
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    habitats which are threatened by the “uncontrolled population explosion”
    of mankind at present. This World Wildlife Fund is supported by the so
    called “national appeals”, national foundations which have already been
    formed in Great Britain (autumn 1961), U.S.A. (June 1962) and also in
    Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The fund acts in close co-ope
    ration with the I.U.C.N. and for the future of the West European Spoon
    bills it is encouraging to learn that both bodies have already obtained im
    portant promises concerning vast areas of the marismas in the Guadal
    quivir estuary (cf. The Wildfowl Trust, 14th Annual Report, 1963, p. 29).
    SUMMARY
    A description of the Netherlands Spoonbill colonies is given, from which
    it is clear that on the whole they are thriving. From observations made it
    is unlikely that the species is double-brooded. Co-existence with Cormorants
    is possible provided the latter do not become too dominating. An enume
    ration based on literature of the colonies in Austria, Hungary and the
    Balkans is added for comparison.
    Although a relatively small number of ringing records have been ob
    tained our knowledge of the migration routes has increased a great deal;
    this holds good for the population of the Netherlands as well as for those
    of Austria and Hungary. There is no contact between the two populations.
    The discovery in 1959 of a large breeding population of Platalea leuco
    rodia leucorodia off the coast of Mauritania (latitude about 200 N) was a
    great surprise. This population more or less forms the counterpart of the
    Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia archeri) living on the Dahlak Islands in the
    Red Sea and on the Somali coast (latitudes 160 to n°N). But the sur
    prise was twofold as the area discovered (Banc d’Arguin) proved to be
    at the same time the winter quarters of the Netherlands Spoonbills (one
    ringed bird found and three others with unidentified rings seen).
    The greater proportion of the Spoonbills from south-eastern Europe
    migrate via Calabria and Sicily to Tunisia; the rest fly via Greece to Egypt,
    where they follow the Nile upstream. About 50% of the birds from Manyas
    lake (Turkey) migrate in a south-eastern direction to the Euphrates/Tigris
    delta.
    Some remarks are made on the persecution of this bird by mankind in
    former centuries and on the fact that persecution is gradually changing
    into preservation; the Latin countries are bringing up the rear.
    Biologists are concerned about the disappearance of marshes and wet
    lands owing to the pressure of the growing human population. To study
    this problem a special conference (Projet MAR) was organized by I.U.C.N.,
    G. A. BROUWER
    C.I.P.O. and I.W.R.B. in southern France (Nov. 1962). I.U.C.N. in co
    operation with the World Wildlife Fund is engaged in securing parts of
    the marismas in south-western Spain.
    REFERENCES
    ARCHER, Sir G. & Eva M. GODMAN, 1937. The Birds of British Somaliland and the Gulf
    of Aden, vol. 1, pp. 80-83 (London).
    BALEN, J. C. F. VAN, 1907. Nachtzwaluw en Lepelaar. Lev. Nat., vol. 12, p. 159.
    BANNERMAN, D. A., 1957. The Birds of the British Isles, vol. 6, pp. 25-38 (Edinburgh/
    London).
    , 1958. Birds of Cyprus, p. 236 (Edinburgh/London).
    BEETHAM, B., 1910. The Home-Life of the Spoonbill, the Stork and some Herons,
    pp. 1-15, pi. 1-11 (London).
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    EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
    Plate XXVI
    The mixed colony of Grey Herons and Spoonbills in the Muy, Texel,
    seen from the South-West; the visitors’ lookout in the background. Photo
    G. K. C. van Tienhoven, about 1948.
    Plate XXVII
    Naardermeer, breeding site no. 6, 17th June 1954. This aerial photo
    shows two parts of the Spoonbill colony, a third part at the right side is
    not visible. In the foreground of the original photo (the reproduced ones
    THE SPOONBILL IN EUROPE
    521
    being mostly cut off) nearly sixty Spoonbills nests can be seen, but one
    should not confuse them with the many tussocks of Carex paniculata! Here
    a good many adult birds are seen, with their young still in the nests; a
    group of nearly fledged young can be distinguished at the left side over
    the ditch. The disturbance is visible: some 160 Spoonbills (probably mainly
    adult birds) have taken wing, nearly 130 (adults and young) are still on
    the ground besides about 60 small young ones; so about 350 Spoonbills
    are in the picture. The long-drawn pool over the ditch is chiefly a meeting
    place for Cormorants (many immatures stay at the colony), although there
    are some nests on the ground. Photo Aero-carto Holland
    file:///C:/Users/OOVER/Downloads/Kleine%20lepelaar20Leefomgeving%20&%20Foto’s%20op%20Animale

other mass migrations of breeding spoonbills in former years.

other mass migrations of breeding spoonbills in former years.

1. movements from Naardermeer (1980-1984)to OostvaardersplassenHoever the birds used an other breedingsite their forraging site stayed the same Ketelmeer polder arkenheem and surroundings.
2. from Zwanenwater to Balgzand(1988-1995)probably caused by the increase of foxes the existing breeding colny of Zwanenwater moved to the saltmarsh of Balgzand also here it was found that birds continues using same foraging site(polders around Schagen up to polders north of Amsterdam