It breeds in mixed colonies on small islands from March to August (Wei Guoan et al. 2005). Breeding success is low. It is mainly a crepuscular feeder and utilises intertidal mudflats (Yu and Swennen 2004b); resting, sleeping and digesting occur at a variety of sites (trees, man-made structures, shallow water) within 2-3 km of feeding areas (Yu and Swennen 2004a). Spoonbills employ tactile feeding using lateral sweeps of the bill to locate fish and shrimp prey (Swennen and Yu 2005). Satellite tracking has shown that birds wintering in Hong Kong and Taiwan, China migrate along the coast of eastern China to northern Jiangsu, then over the Yellow Sea to the Korean peninsula. Wintering birds form large aggregations and it has been recorded amongst flocks of Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia (Yu and Swennen 2005). Occasionally Black-faced Spoonbills also use freshwater habitats (Yu and Swennen 2005, Wood et al. 2013). It matures at five years of age and birds of at least 9.5 years old have been recorded in the wild (Yu 2005).

This species is endemic to coasts and archipelagos in East Asia. It breeds in only four areas (Cano-Alonso et al. 2023): the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, in both North Korea and South Korea, and much small numbers in Liaoning Province, China, and the South Primorve region of Russia (Litvinenko and Shibaev 2007). In winter it is more widespread, with sites spanning Japan (mostly Kyushu, but also Honshu and Nansei-shotō [eBird 2024]), southern China (including Hong Kong, Macao, Hainan and Taiwan) and northern Viet Nam. There are sparse records from further south in Viet Nam, northern Philippines and Thailand. Vagrants have reached Malaysia (Borneo and north-west Peninsular), and inland China (Cano-Alonso et al. 2023).

Conservation Actions Underway
This species is listed in CMS Appendix I (since September 2002). It is legally protected in China, Chinese Taiwan, North and South Korea, and Japan. Several sites in its breeding and non-breeding ranges are protected (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2025). An action plan was published in 1995 and workshops involving all major range countries were held in 1996 and 1997. A second single species action plan was published in 2010 (Chan et al. 2010). An action plan for Hong Kong was published in 2023 covering 2024-2028 with several actions listed (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong 2023). In February 2025, more than 35 local and international experts gathered at the WWF Jockey Club Mai Po Peter Scott Visitor Centre, Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong, to initiate the process of revising the Black-faced Spoonbill International Single Species Action Plan (ISSAP) for the next decade. Satellite-tracking of migration routes has been ongoing (Chen et al. 2021, Lai et al. 2024). The Black-faced Spoonbill Census takes place each year to monitor the species population size.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue annual population censuses. Ensure the adequate protection of critical breeding and wintering sites. Update and implement the species' ISSAP. Undertake more tracking data both to better understand migration routes, and also the threat posed by offshore wind farms (Chen et al. 2021, Lai et al. 2025). Better research the potential future impacts from climate change to anticipate future challenges.