the 85-86 cm long, high-legged Löffler is quite distinctive waders with its white plumage and the 18-23 cm long, black beak with its spoon-nicely widened fore end. Both sexes have in the brood-dress mop of hair-nicely extended, until 12 cm long bonnet-feathers, that can be set up with strong arousal, as well as a sallow Kehlfleck at the neck-base. These formations are missing in the silence-dress; the youth-plumage differs only in the black tops of the Handschwingen as well as the also dark shaft-bases of most contour-feathers. Also, squabs have a pink beak and flesh-colored legs.
Spread Löffler brood colony-wisely in wetlands, reed-existed shore-zones and cover-is enough, bush-existed break-landscapes of North America (on offshore islands and at the coasts of Somalia and Mauritania), west and Southern Europe and Asia, from Syria as far as to Sri Lanka and to the Japanese sea as well as. northwards as far as to south and East-Siberia. In Europe, 3 of each other independent brood-occurrences exist: at the estuary of the Guadalquivir (South-Spain), in the Netherlands on Texel, at the Naardermeer at Amsterdam and with Callantsoog, furthermore at the Neusiedler lake, in the Danube-valleys of Hungary, Croatia and Romania as well as in Macedonia.
Zugverhalten European Löffler spend the winter in Africa (southwards until Ethiopia, to the Sudan and Senegal). The Dutch brood-birds move along the Atlantic-coast where they do rest at the estuaries of the bigger French and Spanish rivers. The eastern populations hike as far as to South-India, Malaya and South-China.
Reproduction In March until May, the Löffler arrive again in its brood-areas where both brood-partners erect a 25-30 cm high nest on low-lying reed (European brood-birds) or on trees (Asian Löffler) together. The ground-nests consist of reed while tree and bush-nests from branches and branches are linked. Even if crouches in the nest already big boy, Löffler still bring more Nistmaterial in the mouth-corner and improve the base.
The nest consists of 3-7 eggs (weight): 76 g, size: 6,7x4,7 cm, and is incubated by (from the last egg at) both partners for 21 days. The boys train two whitish Dunenkleider, their first quite thin is and is ousted by the following one first, if already the first contour-feathers break through. The nest-stools are fed by both parents and are protected against far too intensive sun-no-radiation. In the age of 4 weeks, they leave the nest and gather at the next-situated water-surfaces, where they are fed for 4 weeks even further.
After altogether 7-8 weeks, young Löffler become fully-fledged and visit the food-reasons of the colony, where they along-wade in the shallow water and search the mud and the water for various smaller water-animals with lateral pendulum movements of the head. Fish, cancers, mollusks and insects pick up Löffler like amphibians and their spawn as well.
Löffler probably become sexually mature in the age of 3-4 years. The oldest re-findings of a rung wildfowl were 13 and 14 years old.
Further types Four further, near relatives Löfflerarten live in Australia (Gelbschnabellöffler, Platalea flavipes and Königslöffler, Platalea regia), South-Asia of the Manchuria and Korea until South-China (Schwarzstirnlöffler, Platalea minor) and Africa including Madagascar (Rosenfußlöffler, Platalea alba).
In the southern North America as well as in means and South America (until Chile and Argentina), large flocks of the Rosalöffler (Platalea ajaja) lived once, until these magnificent ones, 86 cm big birds of the human being thoughtlessly was pursued. Today, strict protection-rules consist of the USA in order to protect the last brood-pairs from the annihilation in Florida. The increasing "cultivating" transformation of the last natural coast-regions through the human being leaves an only dim outlook openly however - also like for the other Löfflerarten (which resemble the Eurasian Löffler largely in its biology) -.
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