SPOONBILLS
Wading Birds - Spoonbills
Roseate Spoonbill
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.
Nicknamed the “Flame Bird” by R. P. Allen (1947), and known locally as pink, pinky, or pink curlew, the Roseate Spoonbill is unmistakable and one of North America’s most unusual looking wading birds. Its plumage is truly flamboyant, combining a pink body with carmine red on the wings and tail-coverts with a rich tawny, almost orange, tail. The bill is shaped like a spatula, giving this species its name. The Roseate Spoonbill is one of 6 species of spoonbills worldwide, the only one found in the New World, and the only spoonbill that has brilliantly colored plumage; the others are chiefly white. It is also the only spoonbill whose head becomes completely unfeathered and colorful as the bird matures.
Relatively little is known about this species. It is essentially a Neotropical bird whose range extends north into the southern United States. The Florida and West Indies population appears disjunct from the South America population because of rarity in the Lesser Antilles, and from remaining populations in the United States and Middle America because of gaps along the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Yucatán Channel. Members of this species, especially immatures, occasionally disperse great distances, but seasonal patterns of movement are poorly understood and nothing is known about regional philopatry.
In Florida, it is often mistaken for a Flamingo, which is now only seen in Zoos.
Thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the above info.
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