Wildlife Spotlight: Roseate Spoonbill

Karla Brandt

Called “one of the most breathtaking of the world’s weird birds” by ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson, the roseate spoonbill was confused with flamingoes by early settlers. In the 1830s Audubon discovered these exquisite birds while searching for nonexistent flamingo nests. Also called the “flame bird” and the “banjo bill,” the roseate spoonbill has pink feathers with scarlet-tinted wings, and an orange tail. The pink color results from its diet of shrimp, small fish, snails, and aquatic insects. In the early 1990s a biologist and engineer discovered that the bird’s flat bill creates mini-whirlpools that suck out submerged prey. Like many wading birds, the spoonbill almost became extinct early in this century as the result of plume hunters. The feathers of the spoonbill itself were not sought as they quickly fade. Unfortunately, the egret that shared colonies with the spoonbills were highly prized. As a consequence, the spoonbill deserted their nests. Although its numbers have increased, the roseate spoonbill is still threatened primarily by habitat loss and is listed as a species of special concern by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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