Roseate Spoonbills
Spoonbills ... Ibises
The Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Ajaia) is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. In 2006, a banded bird 16 years old was discovered, making it the oldest known individual in the wild.
Distribution / Breeding:
It is a resident breeder in South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and the Gulf Coast of the United States. Vagrant birds have been sighted as far north as Delaware, Indiana, and Kansas.
In the United States a popular and easy place to observe Roseate Spoonbills is at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island just off the west coast of Florida across a causeway connecting to Fort Myers.
Breeding / Nesting
The Roseate Spoonbill nests in trees, often mangroves, laying 2 to 5 eggs. It does not usually share colonies with storks or herons.
Description:
This species is unmistakable. It is 80cm tall, with a 120–130 cm (47–51 in) wingspan. It is long-legged, long-necked and has a long, spatulate bill. Adults have a bare greenish head, white neck, breast and back, and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey.
Sexes are similar, but immature birds have white feathered heads and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish.
Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. In 2006, a banded bird 16 years old was discovered, the oldest known individual.
They are not very skittish and when feeding or bathing can often be observed within thirty to forty feet.
Diet / Feeding:
This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters on crustaceans, very small fish bigger waders ignore, and other inverterbrates by swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups. Roseate Spoonbills can be found feeding nearby Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Tricolor Egrets and American White Pelicans.
Their specific spoonbill feeding goes into the shallow muck of ponds, marshes and rivers and not after free swimming fish thereby making them a non-competitor for the fish the other wading birds in general are fishing.
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