The Roseate Spoonbill
(Ajaia ajaja)
Created by: Eric S.
The mother and the father are watching the eggs.
Click on the picture above to hear the Roseate Spoonbill Call.
                                                The spoonbill is resting in the water.

The Spoonbills belong to the family Threskiornithidae, order Ciconiiformes

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Bright pink and red plumage and a long, flat spoon-like bill. The spoonbill gets it's color from eating the bright shrimp. When they are born, the baby spoonbill has no color but becomes pink by eating shrimp.

Identification Tips:
Sexes similar
Large, long-legged wader with a long neck
Long, spatulate bill
Holds neck extended in flight
The bill is a thin flat bill, withneck, back and breast largely white; adult has a bare head.

Adult:
Red eyes
Bill grayish with dark mottling
Head greenish and unfeathered with black nape band
White neck and back
Pink back and wings
Legs red, feet dark

Immature:
Yellow eyes
Bill yellowish
White or very pale pink body plumage
White feathered head

Similar species:
No other bird has a similar bill. Flamingos are also long-legged pink wading birds but have short, thick, hooked bills and black in the flight feathers.

RANGE:  The Roseate Spoonbills can be found in parts of Florida and along the Gulf Coast.

HABITAT & BEHAVIOR: Nests alone or in small clusters among colonies of herons and other water birds. The Roseate Spoonbill feeds by sweeping the flat bill back and forth to capture minute crustaceans.

DIET: The roseate spoonbill eats killfish, minnows, fish fry, shrimps, slugs and water bugs.
 

Check out these websites for more information:

http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/spoonbil.htm

http://www.shadow.net/~grgreen/glades/spoonbil.html

http://www.dallasdino.org/permanent/wildlife_dioramas/roseate_spoonbill.cfm

http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/0C/00C87000.htm

The map above shows where Roseate Spoonbills can be found at different times of the year.