AKP Phnom Penh, March 06, 2021 --

Cambodian conservationists have no clue over the presence of black face spoonbill, a large white wading bird.

Rangers have been trying to find this bird, but no clue after we recorded in 2011 and 2012 in Boeung Prek Lapouv,” said BirdLife International Cambodia Programme Manager Mr. Bou Vorsak.

“I do not know what month or year, I can meet black face spoonbill again,” he underlined in his social network.

Mr. Chhoeurn Socheath, a ranger told AKP by phone that no black face spoonbill was recorded in the waterbird census in Boeung Prek Lapouv in 2021.

Our team has conducted the waterbirds census at this important wetland; we found 65 species in Boeung Prek Lapouv; but no black face spoonbill was recorded, he added.

“2012 was the last record of this species in Boeung Prek Lapouv,” he pointed out.

Boeung Prek Lapouv Protected Landscape represents one of the largest remnants of seasonally inundated grasslands in the Lower Mekong Region, at over 8,300 hectares in size. It is one of 40 globally Important Bird Areas identified as key sites for conservation in Cambodia.

Climate change, human activities … could be the main reason of this bird’s disappearance, Mr. Chhoeurn Socheath said.

The black-faced spoonbill is a large white wading bird with a distinctively shaped beak-looking like a spoon. The facial skin is bare and black in colour - hence its name. It stands about 76cm high and weighs about 1kg.

This is one of the migrant bird and breed between March and September on small islands along the western coast of the Korean Peninsula to Liaoning province, China.

The black faced spoonbill feeds on fish and shrimps in shallow water, mainly in coastal areas. It has been estimated only around 3,941 individuals. It is classified as a globally ‘endangered' species under the IUCN’s Red List.

By Heng Panha