Roseate spoonbill
Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) in the Indian River Lagoon Estuary.
The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder from Brevard's Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to as far north as South Carolina's Huntington Beach State Park.
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The roseate spoonbill 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. Roseate spoonbills compete for food with snowy egrets, great egrets, tricolored herons and American white pelicans.
The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs 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 is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish. Adults have a gray bill, 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.
