Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)

A bizarre wading bird of the southern coasts, the Roseate Spoonbill uses its odd bill to strain small food items out of the water. Its bright pink coloring leads many Florida tourists to think they have seen a flamingo.(read more)

Diet
The roseate spoonbill spends a lot of its time in shallow water feeding. It sweeps its open bill from side to side in the water to sift up food like small fish, shrimp, mollusks, snails and insects. It has touch receptors in its bill that help it feel its prey. Like the flamingo, the roseate spoonbill's pink color comes from the food it eats. Some of the crustaceans it eats feed on algae that give the spoonbill's feathers their rosy pink color.(read more)

Though plume hunting has ceased, spoonbills are still vulnerable today to habitat loss and alteration. In Florida Bay, freshwater inflows from the Everglades adversely affect the salinities of coastal wetlands and the population of fish and other prey. The roseate spoonbill is listed as a Species of Special Concern.(read more)

Photos by Juan Aguero (juanKa)
Flamingo, Everglades National Park
Cameras Canon 40D, 20D
Lens Canon EF 100-400mm L IS

EF 300mm L IS