📷 User:Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0
📷 ladydragonflycc
📷 Dan Pancamo
IUCN: Least Concern
Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassAves›OrderPelecaniformes›FamilyThreskiornithidae›GenusPlatalea
About
The roseate spoonbill gets its pink colour from carotenoid pigments in the crustaceans it eats, and it feeds by sweeping its peculiar flat bill side to side through shallow water, snapping shut on prey by touch. In the 1800s plume hunters nearly eliminated it from the United States; protection of Florida wetlands brought it back. It nests colonially in mangroves alongside herons and ibises.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Coastal lagoons, mangroves, marshes, and tidal flats
🍃Diet Carnivore — small fish, crustaceans, insects, and snails
📏Size & Weight Body 71–86 cm; wingspan 1.2–1.3 m
•weight 1.2–1.8 kg
⏳Lifespan Up to 10 years
🗺Range Gulf Coast of the United States, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, and South America south to Argentina and Chile
BirdWaterbird
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Coastal lagoons, mangroves, marshes, and tidal flats
🍃Diet Carnivore — small fish, crustaceans, insects, and snails
📏Size & Weight Body 71–86 cm; wingspan 1.2–1.3 m
•weight 1.2–1.8 kg
⏳Lifespan Up to 10 years
🗺Range Gulf Coast of the United States, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, and South America south to Argentina and Chile
Photo Credits
#1User:Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0
#2ladydragonflycc · CC BY 2.0
#3Dan Pancamo · CC BY-SA 2.0
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