Editing Roseate spoonbill (section)

==Behavior==
Little is known about the roseate spoonbill's behavior outside of their foraging habits.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dumas |first=Jeannette V. |date=2020 |title=Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), version 1.0 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/rosspo1/cur/introduction |journal=Birds of the World |language=en |doi=10.2173/bow.rosspo1.01|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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. Moreover, the spoon-shaped bill allows it to sift easily through mud.<ref name=":0" />

The bird feeds on [[crustacean]]s, bits of plant material, [[aquatic insects]], [[mollusc|mollusk]]s, [[frog]]s, [[newt]]s and very small [[fish]] (such as [[minnow]]s) ignored by larger waders.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago - ''Ajaia ajaja'' (Roseate Spoonbill) |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/images/Ajaia%20ajaja%20-%20Roseate%20Spoonbill.pdf |website=University of the West Indies St. Augustine}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ajaia_ajaja/ | title=Ajaia ajaja (Roseate spoonbill) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> In Brazil, researchers found roseate spoonbill diets to consist of fish, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and seeds, all foraged from [[Limnetic zone|limnetic]]/freshwater habitats. This habitat specialization, combined with the relative plasticity of great egret foraging behavior, allows the two species to minimize competition during the breeding season.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Britto |first1=Vanessa O. |last2=Bugoni |first2=Leandro |date=2015 |title=The contrasting feeding ecology of great egrets and roseate spoonbills in limnetic and estuarine colonies |journal=Hydrobiologia |volume=744 |issue=1 |pages=187–210 |doi=10.1007/s10750-014-2076-1|bibcode=2015HyBio.744..187B |s2cid=254541980 }}</ref> Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with other freshwater birds, such as [[snowy egret]]s, [[great egret]]s, [[tricolored heron]]s and [[American white pelican]]s.{{citation needed|date= June 2023}} Roseate spoonbills are often trailed by egrets when foraging in a commensal "beater-follower" relationship, as the spoonbill's disturbance of the sediment makes prey more available to the egret (follower).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=James K. |date=1978 |title=Effects of Interspecific Dominance among Egrets Commensally Following Roseate Spoonbills |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4085177 |journal=The Auk |volume=95 |issue=3 |pages=608–610|doi=10.1093/auk/95.3.608 |jstor=4085177 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) young adult Rio Napo.jpg|young adult, Ecuador
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 National Wildlife Refuge|Merritt Island]], Florida, United States
Roseate Spoonbill feeding with Northern Shovellors, Merritt Island.ogv|Video of feeding behavior, [[Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge|Merritt Island]], Florida, United States
2019-02-15 074 Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.jpg|In flight at [[Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve]], Mexico
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===Breeding===
The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often [[mangrove]]s, laying two to five [[bird egg|eggs]], which are whitish with brown markings.<ref name=S&H/> Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the [[plumage]] is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish. Nestlings are sometimes killed by [[turkey vulture]]s, [[bald eagle]]s, [[raccoon]]s and invasive [[Red imported fire ant|fire ants]].<ref name="BNA" />

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Platalea ajaja -parent and two chicks on nest-8a.jpg|Adult with two juveniles on a nest
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