Roseate Spoonbill - Ross Feldner

It’s easy to see how this bird got its name with its rosy coloring and a spoon shaped bill. Modern field guide author Kenn Kaufman once said: “Roseate Spoonbills are gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close.”

This unique bird has striking pink plumage that became so popular on women’s hats in the 1800s that hunters almost drove them into extinction. They were able to recolonize in the early 1900s and slowly increased in number. Modern threats are mostly habitat loss.

Roseate Spoonbills, unlike most birds, remain silent when feeding, swishing their spoon-shaped bill back and forth in the water like a sieve in search of small fish, invertebrates and crustaceans. Scientists believe they get their pink color from a diet of carotenoid-rich shrimp. The more shrimp they eat, the pinker they get!