Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja
Their vibrant pink plumage is derived from carotenoid pigments found in the shrimp and crustaceans they consume.
- Scientific name
- Platalea ajaja
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Pelecaniformes › Threskiornithidae › Platalea
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Salt marshes, coastal mangroves, and shallow freshwater or brackish lagoons.
- Diet
- Small fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects, and mollusks filtered from the water.
- Range
- Gulf Coast of USA, Caribbean Islands, Central America, South America
- Size
- Length: 71-86 cm; Wingspan: 120-133 cm
- Lifespan
- 10-15 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat degradation, wetland drainage, and pollution from agricultural runoff.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Maintain a respectful distance of at least 50 feet to avoid disrupting their feeding. These birds are sensitive to human presence; if they stop feeding or fly away, you are too close.
The roseate spoonbill ( Platalea ajaja ) - sometimes placed in its own genus Ajaia - is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Gulf Coast of the United States, and from central Florida's Atlantic coast at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at...
Photo: Nigel Voaden, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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