The Roseate Spoonbill can be found along the South Florida coast from the Florida Keys north to Tampa, with some populations in northeastern Florida and the eastern coast of Texas down to Mexico. A major period of decline for the spoonbill occurred in the early 1800's when the wings of
this beautiful creature were made into fans, a "regular article of trade" in St. Augustine, according to John Audubon. The millinery or "hat trade" also took a heavy toll on the spoonbill in the late 1800's. Although their feathers were never in as great of demand as the plumes of the egrets because they
faded, spoonbills were still slaughtered along with many plume birds, and their numbers declined. The establishment of Everglades National Park in 1947 seemed to have a positive affect on south Florida's spoonbill population, which began reusing nesting sites that had not been occupied since the late 1800's.

   The Diet of the Spoonbill includes minnows, killifish, fish fry, shrimp, water beetles, slugs and bits of vegetable matter. The bill is not used as a scoop, but as a super-sensitive forceps. A network of
nerves in the bill allows the bird to feed in clouded water or probe in mud, where invisible prey must be felt to be caught. At times, the Spoonbill's head and part of its neck may be immersed.
 As it wades through the shallows, it swings its partially open spoonbill in lateral arcs through the water and mud, seizing minnows, etc. The bird then raises and slightly shakes its head to guide the food down the bill to the gular pouch. At sundown, the bird leaves the feeding grounds and flies with other water birds to large communal roosts. The roseate spoonbill feeds by sweeping it's bill though the water and sweeping out any invertebrates out of were they are living. The roseate spoonbill fly in a flock of less than 11. The spoonbill flies in a flock. In the air the roseate spoonbill shape in to a  V. The spoonbill is a silent flyer but when alerted flies very lows they fly over Sandy Key, ten miles southwest of Flamingo, is a hub of spoonbill activity during winter. Every evening, a little over a hundred spoonbills roost in the islands' largest trees. At sunrise, the birds compete with the morning
colors as they depart individually or in small flocks for the mainland.

      In Florida Bay, two hundred plus breeding pairs nest on Sandy Key, Tern Key, and Joe Key, plus other islands, from November through March. During this time it is difficult to find spoonbills roosting near Flamingo, but they may be observed flying overhead to inland feeding areas and flying
back to the islands to feed their babies.  They also visit  Pond for a short period during winter, when dropping water levels force their food to concentrate there.