Roseate spoonbill

The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a social wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. The roseate spoonbill's pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin, like the American flamingo.

Taxonomy

The roseate spoonbill was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Platalea ajaja.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Linnaeus largely based his account on the "Aiaia" that been described and illustrated over a century earlier by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Linnaeus specified the type locality as South America but this is now restricted to Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name Platalea is Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill; the specific epithet ajaja is from the name for the species in the Tupi language as reported by Marcgrave.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The species is treated as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own genus – Ajaia. A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and yellow-billed spoonbills were each other's closest relatives, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus Platalea or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera Platibis and Ajaia, respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Description

The roseate spoonbill is Template:Convert long, with a Template:Convert wingspan and a body mass of Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The tarsus measures Template:Convert, the culmen measures Template:Convert and the wing measures Template:Convert and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate bill all appear elongated.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding<ref name=Howell1995>Template:Cite book</ref>) and a white neck, back and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey. There is no significant sexual dimorphism.

Like the American flamingo, their pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin. Another carotenoid, astaxanthin, can also be found deposited in flight and body feathers.<ref name=Brush1990>Brush, A. H. 1990. Metabolism of cartenoid pigments in birds. The FASEB Journal. 4:2969-2977.
Fox, D. L. 1962. Carotenoids of the Roseate Spoonbill. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 6:305-310.
(Mentioned in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology page).</ref> The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. They alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.<ref name=S&H>Template:Cite book</ref>

Distribution

In the United States, the species is locally common in Texas, Florida, and southwest Louisiana.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Generally, the species occurs in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States,<ref name=Audubon>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=BNA>Dumas, Jeannette V. 2000. Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 2009-11-12. Template:Subscription required</ref> and from central Florida's Atlantic coast<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Myrtle Beach.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Plume hunting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries almost drove the roseate spoonbill to extinction.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> However, following decades of conservation efforts, and the effects of climate change, the range of the roseate spoonbill has expanded considerably in the 21st century.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> For instance, the species was recorded breeding in the state of Georgia for the first time in 2011. Moreover, its presence in South Carolina has expanded significantly since the 1970s,<ref name=":1" /> as well as a single sighting of the bird in both Michigan and Wisconsin. The last known recorded log of the bird in the state of Wisconsin was of a deceased specimen in 1845 in Rock County. It made an historic reappearance 178 years later when a specimen was sighted by a crew that was doing birding surveys on the restricted-access Cat Island Causeway on July 27, 2023.

In the summer of 2021, sightings of the bird were reported well outside its typical range, including in Washington, D.C., upstate New York, and even New Hampshire.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A large flock was spotted in Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia, drawing a large crowd of spectators.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Florida Bay, roseate spoonbills are an ecological and scientific indicator species. The number of nests varies with both the amount of fresh water and the depth of seawater there, as wetlands turn into open ocean. The birds are choosing to nest further north and inland in Florida, with sharp changes in nest locations noted in the years 2006–2020.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Behavior

Little is known about the roseate spoonbill's behavior outside of their foraging habits.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</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 crustaceans, bits of plant material, aquatic insects, mollusks, frogs, newts and very small fish (such as minnows) ignored by larger waders.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Brazil, researchers found roseate spoonbill diets to consist of fish, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and seeds, all foraged from 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>Template:Cite journal</ref> Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with other freshwater birds, such as snowy egrets, great egrets, tricolored herons and American white pelicans.Template:Citation needed 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>Template:Cite journal</ref>

• 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, Florida, United States

• Roseate Spoonbill feeding with Northern Shovellors, Merritt Island.ogv

  Video of feeding behavior, 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

Breeding

The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying two to five 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 vultures, bald eagles, raccoons and invasive fire ants.<ref name="BNA" />

• Platalea ajaja -parent and two chicks on nest-8a.jpg

  Adult with two juveniles on a nest

Conservation and threats

Plume hunting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries almost drove the roseate spoonbill to extinction. However, it is currently considered not threatened. Information about predation on adults is lacking. In 2022, an 18-year-old banded bird was discovered, making it the oldest known wild individual.<ref name=Care88664>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Template:EBirdSpecies
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• Species account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Template:IUCN Map