roseate spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Threskiornithidae
Subfamily:	Plateinae
Genus:	Platalea
Species:	P. ajaja
Binomial name
Platalea ajaja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Ajaja ajaja

The Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Ajaia) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.^[1][2] Vagrant birds have been sighted as far north as Delaware,^[3] Indiana,^[4] and Kansas.^[5]

Discription

The Roseate Spoonbill is 80 cm (31 in) tall, with a 120–130 cm (47–51 in) wingspan. It has long legs, a long neck, and a long, spatulate bill. Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding^[6]) and a white neck, back, and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey. Sexes are similar.

Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. They alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.^[6]

Reproduction

An adult with two juveniles on a nest

The Roseate Spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying 2 to 5 eggs, which are whitish with brown markings.^[6] Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish.

Threats

There is no information about predation on adults. Nestlings are sometimes killed by Turkey Vultures (which can kill even healthy nestlings), Bald Eagles, Raccoons, and Fire Ants.^[2] In 2006, a banded bird 16 years old was discovered, making it the oldest known individual in the wild ^[7].

Feeding

This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters by swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups. It feeds on crustaceans, aquatic beetles and bugs, and very small fish bigger waders ignore. In the United States a popular and easy place to observe Roseate Spoonbills is "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.

Roseate Spoonbills sometimes feed near Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Tricolored Herons, and American White Pelicans. As spoonbills they feed in the shallow muck of ponds, marshes and rivers and do not try to catch free-swimming fish except the smallest, so they do not compete for the fish the other wading birds in general are fishing.^{[citation needed]}

They are not very skittish and when feeding or bathing can often be observed from within thirty or forty feet.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

Wing lift is to dry wings or preen them.	In flight	Balancing on one leg.
At Walsrode Bird Park, Germany. The head is golden buff in the breeding season.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Platalea ajaja

• Field Guide on Flickr