The roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'') is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America.

Taxonomy

The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own genus - ''Ajaia''. A 2010 study of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and

yellow-billed spoonbill The yellow-billed spoonbill (''Platalea flavipes'') is a gregarious Wader, wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is native to Australia, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Taxonomy ...

s were each other's closest relatives, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus ''

Platalea Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

'' or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera ''Platibis'' and ''Ajaia'', respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.

Description

The roseate spoonbill is long, with a wingspan and a body mass of . The tarsus measures , the culmen measures and the wing measures and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

all appear elongated. Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding) 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. There is no significant sexual dimorphism Like the American flamingo, their pink colour is diet-derived, consisting of the

carotenoid Carotenoids (), also called tetraterpenoids, are yellow, orange, and red organic compound, organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, and Fungus, fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpki ...

pigment

canthaxanthin Canthaxanthin is a keto-carotenoid pigment widely distributed in nature. Carotenoids belong to a larger class of phytochemicals known as terpenoids. The chemical formula of canthaxanthin is C40H52O2. It was first isolated in edible mushrooms. It ...

. Another carotenoid, astaxanthin, can also be found deposited in flight and body feathers.Brush, A. H. 1990. Metabolism of cartenoid pigments in birds. ''

The FASEB Journal ''The FASEB Journal'' is a scientific journal related to experimental biosciences, promoting scientific progress and education. It is published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology The Federation of American Societ ...

''. 4:2969-2977.
Fox, D. L. 1962. Carotenoids of the Roseate Spoonbill. ''Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology'' 6:305-310.
(Mentioned in th
Cornell Lab of Ornithology page
. The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

s, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. They alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.

Distribution

The species occurs in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, Central America, Mexico, and the

Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

,Dumas, Jeannette V. 2000
Roseate Spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'')
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 2009-11-12. and from central Florida's Atlantic coast at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Myrtle Beach. In the summer of 2021, sightings of the bird were reported well outside its typical range, including in Washington, D.C., upstate New York, and even New Hampshire. A large flock was spotted in Huntley Meadows Park in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

, drawing a large crowd of spectators.

Behavior

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. The spoon-shaped bill allows it to sift easily through mud. It feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, newts and very small fish ignored by larger waders. In the United States, a popular place to observe roseate spoonbills is "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with

snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, app ...

s, great egrets, tricolored herons and

American white pelican The American white pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos'') is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America and South America, in winte ...

s. Roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) in flight composite.jpg, In flight in the Pantanal, Brazil
(composite image) Roseate Spoonbill by Dan Pancamo1.jpg, On High Island, Texas, United States Roze Lepelaar.jpg, At GaiaZoo, Netherlands Merritt island-0480.jpg, Foraging roseate spoonbills at Merritt Island, Florida United States Roseate Spoonbill feeding with Northern Shovellors, Merritt Island.ogv, Video of feeding behavior, Merritt Island, Florida United States 2019-02-15 074 Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.jpg, Roseate spoonbill at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

Breeding

The roseate spoonbill nests in

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s or trees, often mangroves, laying two to five eggs, which are whitish with brown markings. Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish. Platalea ajaja -parent and two chicks on nest-8a.jpg, Adult with two juveniles on a nest

Conservation and threats

Information about predation on adults is lacking. Nestlings are sometimes killed by turkey vultures,

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

s, raccoons and fire ants. In 2022, an 18-year-old banded bird was discovered, making it the oldest known wild individual.

References

External links

Field guide on Flickr
* * *

– Cornell Lab of Ornithology * {{Taxonbar, from=Q389664 roseate spoonbill Native birds of the Southeastern United States Birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of South America Wading birds roseate spoonbill roseate spoonbill Articles containing video clips Extant Late Pleistocene first appearances