Are you a bird enthusiast looking to expand your knowledge and discover new and beautiful species? And if those species happen to be white birds with long beaks, you are in the right place! 

This list will be helpful to you, whether you enjoy watching birds or want to learn about as many of these magnificent flying creatures as you can.

Let’s get started!

List of 10 White Birds With Long Beaks

• American White Pelicans
• White Ibises
• Wood Storks
• Eurasian Spoonbills
• Great Egrets
• Yellow-billed Storks
• Black-headed Ibises
• Australian Pelicans
• Whooping Cranes
• Trumpeter Swans 

American White Pelicans 

Scientific Name: Pelecanus Erythrorhynchos

American white pelicans are stunning waterbirds with all-white body plumage and black flight feathers. They have broad wings, long necks, and beaks that give their heads a long shape.

Their long beaks are flat on the top and pale orange, matching the color of their legs and feet. They are usually around 4.2 to 5.4 feet long, while their beaks alone can grow up to 15 inches.

American white pelicans primarily use their huge beaks for feeding. They dunk their heads into the water and utilize the reach of their beaks to catch fish. 

White Ibises

Scientific Name: Eudocimus albus

The white ibis, also known as the American white ibis, is a medium-sized white bird that thrives in mudflats, flooded pastures, mangroves, and swamps. It is characterized by its long, bright red-orange beak curved downwards.

Their bodies are covered in pure white feathers, while their black-tipped wings are only visible when flying. 

Male white ibises weigh between 1.9 and 2.7 pounds, while females weigh between 1.3 and 1.8 pounds. Both sexes have a body length of 20.8 to 27.5 inches and a wingspan of up to 41.3 inches.

American white ibises use their lengthy beaks as tools for protection as well as for hunting purposes. The bulk of their diet consists of aquatic creatures such as crabs, insects, frogs, fish, and snakes.

Wood Storks

Scientific Name: Mycteria Americana

Wood storks are social birds that live in groups and nest in colonies, usually in wetland environments. The habitat they choose to live in can vary at times. Still, one thing that is a must when selecting their home is a tropical or subtropical climate with fluctuating water levels.

Wood storks have mostly white feathers over their bodies, while their heads, beaks, and legs are best described as dark gray.

These big birds are around 34–45 inches tall, with an average wingspan of 55–71 inches. White storks have a dark, downward-curved beak that is quite long and wide at the base.

As a carnivore bird, a white stork uses its massive beak to catch various animals, from reptiles, fish, and amphibians, to small mammals and birds. 

Related: Birds With Blue Beaks

Eurasian Spoonbills

Scientific Name: Platalea Leucorodia

The Eurasian spoonbill, also known as the common spoonbill, is a wading bird, most commonly found in extensive wet areas. 

One of the most eye-catching features of this white bird is its long beak, which is all black except for the yellow tip. Its bill resembles a spoon (hence the name) because it is flat, slender, and flares towards the end.

Spoonbills use their beaks to catch prey by sweeping it sideways in the water to trap and filter out tiny fish, worms, amphibians, and other aquatic creatures.

Other than their enormous inky black beaks, another interesting feature of adult males is a mass of overgrown crests of feathers on their heads during the breeding season.

Great Egrets 

Scientific Name: Ardea Alba

Speaking of white birds with long beaks, great egrets are a must-mention. Great egrets are giant herons with white feathers, black legs, and long yellow bills.

These elegant birds are found in Asia, America, Africa, and Southern Europe, distributed across most tropical and warmer regions where they nest in colonies near water bodies. 

With a wingspan of up to 5.5 feet, great egrets are the second-largest birds in the heron family.

They live in shallow waters and drier habitats where they consume various organisms, from fish and insects to small mammals, by impaling their prey with their sharp, long beak.

Yellow-Billed Storks

Scientific Name: Mycteria Ibis

Yellow-billed storks are medium-sized wading birds with a length of around 35 to 37 inches. Males are usually slightly larger, with a wingspan of up to 5.2 feet.

They have a white body with black flight wings and tails that can be purplish-green when freshly molted. They use their long orange-colored beaks to catch their prey by using their sense of touch.

Submerging their beak into the water, these storks wait till the target touches their bill, which triggers their snap-bill reflex, and they swallow the catch whole. Amazing, right?

Yellow-billed storks inhabit a wide range of environments. Wetlands, swaps, lagoons, and shallow lakes are some of the most common.

Black-Headed Ibis

Scientific Name: Threskiornis Molucca

The black-headed ibis, also popularly known as the, is a unique-looking white bird with a black beak and a bare head of the same color.

They can grow at a maximum of 25 to 29 inches long, with a wingspan of about 4.2 feet.

These white birds with long beaks usually travel in groups and can be seen both inland and near the coast.

Like most birds on this list, black-headed white ibises primarily use their large beaks for feeding purposes. They hunt and eat a variety of different aquatic organisms.

However, the bulk of their diet comprises shrimp, crabs, fish, and frogs.

Australian Pelicans 

Scientific Name: Pelecanus Conspicillatus

Australian pelicans are long-necked white waterbirds with the largest recorded beak among all birds known to humans today (19.5 inches). They are medium-sized pelican species, with a length of around 5.2–6.2 feet, boosted by their long pale pinkish beaks.

Apart from its enormous bills, an Australian pelican is distinguished by its massive throat pouch, which serves as a food collecting organ.

Interestingly, the pouch can hold up to 13 liters of water!

Australian pelicans are very social birds that travel in flocks, breed colonially, and utilize cooperation for hunting their food.

These birds are pretty widespread species, inhabiting various environments, including lakes, rivers, swamps, coastal shores, marine wetlands, sandbars, etc.

Whooping Cranes

Scientific Name: Grus Americana

Known primarily for their whopping sounds, which also earned them their name, whooping cranes, they are the tallest birds in North America, with a height varying from 4 to 5.2 feet.

They are also one of the heaviest birds, with a maximum body mass of up to 20 pounds.

Their phenomenal size, beautiful white plumage, and red crown make them look like they are at a masquerade. As a result, these long-beaked white birds are enchanting to watch and, thus, are some of the favorites for many birdwatchers.

Whooping cranes use their pointy black beaks, measuring up to 6 inches, to probe in shallow waters and hunt for prey (mainly aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates).

Trumpeter Swans

Scientific Name: Cygnus Buccinator

Trumpeter swans are the heaviest birds in North America (30 pounds). These beautiful white birds with lengthy beaks were considered an endangered species by 1933.

Thankful, great effort was put into restoring their numbers.

They are one of the largest birds in North America; their length can vary from 4.5 to 5.4 feet. So not only are they the heaviest avians on the planet, but they are also among the largest.

The adults have entirely white plumage with a giant wedge-shaped black beak that can measure around 4.1–4.7 inches. Interestingly, juveniles are grayish-brown in color, which sometimes causes them to be misidentified as other species.

These big white aquatic birds live in open water wetlands, rivers, or streams.

Adults mainly consume aquatic plants but also feed on terrestrial grasses and waste crops throughout the winter. The young ones have a diet established on tiny invertebrates and insects.

Conclusion 

And there you have it. With this, we conclude our list of white birds with long beaks.

These stunning and graceful animals can be found all across the world, from Asia and America to Europe and Africa. These birds are a sight that will leave you mesmerized and unraveled no matter which corner of the world you live in. 

Take notice, all you birdwatchers: you never know when you’ll see one of these magnificent birds.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post, here’s another popular bird article: Long-beaked Small Birds