Animal
Roseate spoonbill
The roseate spoonbill is a pink bird with a long beak shaped like a spoon. It swishes its beak in the water to find food.
The roseate spoonbill is a bright pink wading bird with a long, flat bill shaped like a spoon. It sweeps its bill from side to side through shallow water and grabs the shrimp or small fish it feels. Its pink color comes from the food it eats.
Platalea ajaja is the only spoonbill native to the Western Hemisphere, found in wetlands from the southern United States to Argentina. It finds prey by touch, sweeping a sensitive, spatula-shaped bill through the water. Common in parts of the southeastern United States until the 1860s, it was then nearly wiped out there by plume hunters; it has since returned and is listed as Least Concern.
Photo: © Giles Laurent, gileslaurent.com, License CC BY-SA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the roseate spoonbill
The roseate spoonbill is a pink bird with long legs.
Its beak is long and flat at the end, like a spoon. Its neck is white, and it has bright red patches on its wings.
The roseate spoonbill is a wading bird about 71 to 86 centimeters long, with wings that stretch about 1.2 to 1.3 meters across. 'Roseate' means rosy pink, and that is its color: a pink body, bright red patches on the wings and a white neck and chest.
Its most amazing feature is its bill: very long, flat and wide at the tip, just like a spoon. Adults have no feathers on their heads, and their eyes are red. Males and females look alike.
Platalea ajaja measures 71 to 86 centimeters, spans 1.2 to 1.3 meters and weighs 1.2 to 1.8 kilograms (Audubon). The body is mostly bright pink, with carmine-red wing coverts and a white neck, chest and upper back; breeding adults have a bare head and red eyes, while juveniles are much paler, often mostly white, with feathered heads. The sexes look alike.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes it as the only spoonbill native to the Western Hemisphere. Its exceptionally long, flattened, spatula-shaped bill is the key to its feeding.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.71 to 0.86 m
- Wingspan
- 1.2 to 1.3 m
- Weight
- 1.2 to 1.8 kg
Where it lives
Roseate spoonbills live in the warm parts of America.
They live in Florida and Texas, in Central America, on Caribbean islands and in South America. They like shallow, muddy water.
Roseate spoonbills live along the Gulf of Mexico in the United States and Mexico, in Central America, on many Caribbean islands and across much of South America east of the Andes, as far south as Argentina.
They like shallow water, both salty and fresh: coastal marshes, lagoons, mudflats, mangrove islands, tidal ponds and big inland marshes. In Florida they are found around Florida Bay, Tampa Bay and Brevard County.
The IUCN's 2025 assessment lists the species as resident across Central America, the Caribbean and South America to Argentina, with breeding records in the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Florida FWC describes it as a resident breeder in South America, generally east of the Andes, and in coastal Central America, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Habitats include coastal marshes, lagoons, mudflats and mangrove keys in salt and fresh water, as well as tidal ponds and extensive inland marshes (Audubon). Some birds move seasonally: Texas birds are more common in summer and some migrate to Mexico, and there is movement between Florida and Cuba.
Continents
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Coastal and inland wetlands from Florida, the Gulf Coast of Texas and Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean to South America, mostly east of the Andes, south to Argentina. Spoonbills live only in wetlands within each country.
Places: United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil and 19 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Belize, Ecuador and 29 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Spoonbills eat little fish, shrimp and crabs.
A spoonbill walks in shallow water and swishes its beak side to side. When it feels food, it grabs it.
Roseate spoonbills eat small fish such as minnows and killifish, plus shrimp, crayfish, crabs, water insects, snails and slugs. They even eat a few plant roots and stems.
They find food by touch, not by sight. A spoonbill wades through shallow, muddy water and sweeps its slightly open bill from side to side. The bill has sensitive nerve endings, so when it brushes against prey, the bird can grab it.
Audubon lists mainly small fish (minnows, killifish) plus shrimp, crayfish, crabs, aquatic insects (especially beetles), mollusks and slugs, with some plant material such as sedge roots and stems. The Florida FWC gives crayfish, shrimp, crabs and small fish as the main diet.
Foraging is largely tactile. The bird wades with its body horizontal and sweeps a slightly open bill from side to side through muddy water; sensitive nerve endings in the bill detect prey on contact. Spoonbills sometimes also pick up items they see. Food availability matters: in Florida Bay, changes in freshwater flow from the Everglades may affect their prey.
Did you know?
It is the only spoonbill in this half of the world.
The roseate spoonbill is the only spoonbill that lives naturally in North and South America.
The Florida FWC describes it as the only spoonbill native to the Western Hemisphere.
An amazing body
The spoonbill's beak is shaped like a big spoon.
It can feel food in muddy water. Its pink color comes from the food it eats.
The spoonbill's spoon-shaped bill is a feeling tool. It has sensitive nerve endings, so the bird can catch food in muddy water where it cannot see.
Its pink color is not paint! The shrimp, crabs and other small animals it eats are full of natural pigments called carotenoids, and these color its feathers pink. Young spoonbills are much paler, often almost white with a little pink.
The long, flat, spatula-shaped bill carries sensitive nerve endings that allow tactile foraging (Florida FWC). Breeding adults have a featherless head and red eyes; Audubon describes the bare head as pale greenish-gray.
The pink and carmine plumage comes from carotenoid pigments in the crustaceans and other organisms spoonbills eat (Florida FWC, citing Texas Parks and Wildlife). Juveniles share the adults' shape but are much paler, often mostly white with light pink washes, and have fully feathered whitish heads.
Growing up
Spoonbills build stick nests in trees near water.
The mother lays two or three eggs. Both parents keep them warm and feed the babies.
Roseate spoonbills nest in colonies, often with other wading birds, usually in mangroves or low trees. The male brings sticks, and the female builds a big platform nest.
She lays 2 or 3 white eggs with brown spots, sometimes as few as 1 or as many as 5. Both parents keep the eggs warm for 22 to 24 days and feed the chicks. The young leave the nest at about 5 to 6 weeks and fly strongly at about 7 to 8 weeks.
Spoonbills breed in colonies, often mixed with other wading birds, mainly in red mangroves in Florida and in willows or low scrub on coastal islands farther west. Nests are bulky stick platforms, usually 1.5 to 4.5 meters up; the female does most of the building while the male brings material (Audubon; Florida FWC).
In Florida they breed mainly in winter, in Texas in spring. Clutches are usually 2 to 3 white, brown-spotted eggs (range 1 to 5), incubated by both sexes for 22 to 24 days. Both parents feed the young, which leave the nest at 5 to 6 weeks (FWC: about 35 to 42 days) and fly strongly at about 7 to 8 weeks.
A social wader
Spoonbills like to be together.
They nest in big groups with other wading birds.
Roseate spoonbills are social birds. They nest in colonies, often together with other kinds of wading birds.
Some spoonbills stay in the same area all year, while others move with the seasons. After the nesting season, a few spoonbills, mostly young ones, may wander far to the north and inland.
Spoonbills nest colonially, frequently alongside other wading birds, mainly on coastal mangrove islands and, in Florida, sometimes on islands made of dredged material (Florida FWC).
Movements vary by region: Texas birds are present all year but more common in summer, with some migrating to Mexico, and some move between Florida and Cuba. After breeding, a few, mostly immatures, may wander far north and well inland (Audubon).
Did you know?
Baby spoonbills are almost white.
Young spoonbills are much paler than adults, often mostly white with a little pink, and have feathers on their heads.
Juveniles are pale, often mostly white with light pink washes, and have fully feathered whitish heads, unlike the bare-headed adults.
Back from the brink
Long ago, the pink spoonbills almost disappeared from the United States.
Then people protected the places where they nest. Now spoonbills live there again!
Roseate spoonbills were common in parts of the southeastern United States until the 1860s. Then plume hunters destroyed the nesting colonies of many wading birds, and spoonbills almost disappeared from the country. Hunting birds for feathers was later made illegal.
Early in the 1900s spoonbills began to come back to Texas and Florida. Today they are listed as Least Concern worldwide, but in Florida they are still a protected Threatened species, and they need healthy wetlands with plenty of food.
Very common in parts of the Southeast until the 1860s, the roseate spoonbill was then virtually eliminated from the United States as plume hunters destroyed wading-bird colonies; it began recolonizing Texas and Florida early in the 20th century (Audubon). The IUCN's 2025 assessment lists it as Least Concern with a stable overall trend, while the North American population is increasing.
In Florida it is a state-designated Threatened species and is protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Threats include habitat loss, degradation and disturbance, changes in food availability (for example from altered freshwater flow into Florida Bay), pesticides and illegal shooting (Florida FWC).
IUCN Red List
How is the roseate spoonbill doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
A spoonbill finds food by feeling, not by looking.
Spoonbills catch food in muddy water by touch, using nerve endings in their spoon-shaped bills.
Sensitive nerve endings in the bill let spoonbills detect prey on contact while sweeping it through turbid water.
-
Spoonbills are pink because of the food they eat.
The shrimp and crabs that spoonbills eat contain natural pigments that turn their feathers pink.
Carotenoid pigments from crustaceans and other prey produce the spoonbill's pink and carmine plumage.
-
Baby spoonbills are almost white.
Young spoonbills are much paler than adults, often mostly white with a little pink, and have feathers on their heads.
Juveniles are pale, often mostly white with light pink washes, and have fully feathered whitish heads, unlike the bare-headed adults.
-
It is the only spoonbill in this half of the world.
The roseate spoonbill is the only spoonbill that lives naturally in North and South America.
The Florida FWC describes it as the only spoonbill native to the Western Hemisphere.
Words to know
- wading bird
- a long-legged bird that walks in shallow water to find food
- roseate
- rosy pink
- carotenoids
- natural yellow, orange and red pigments found in some foods
- colony
- a group of birds nesting close together
- mangrove
- a tree that grows in salty water along tropical coasts
- plume hunter
- a person who killed birds for their feathers to sell for fashion
Discovery challenge
-
What is a spoonbill's beak shaped like?
What shape is a roseate spoonbill's bill?
How would you describe the roseate spoonbill's bill?
- A spoon
- A hook
- A tiny needle
Show the answer
A spoon
Its beak is flat and wide at the end, like a spoon.
The long bill is flat and wide at the tip, like a spoon.
Long, flattened and spatula-shaped, with sensitive nerve endings.
-
How does a spoonbill find food?
How does a roseate spoonbill find food in muddy water?
Which sense does a roseate spoonbill mainly use to find prey?
- By smell from far away
- By feeling with its bill
- By listening for songs
Show the answer
By feeling with its bill
It swishes its beak and feels for food.
It sweeps its bill side to side and grabs the prey it feels.
Touch: nerve endings in the swept bill detect prey on contact.
-
Why is a spoonbill pink?
What makes a roseate spoonbill pink?
What is the source of the spoonbill's pink coloration?
- The sun colors it
- Pigments in its food
- It rolls in pink mud
Show the answer
Pigments in its food
The food it eats makes it pink.
Its food, such as shrimp and crabs, is full of pigments called carotenoids.
Carotenoids in prey organisms are deposited in the feathers.
-
Where do roseate spoonbills live?
In which part of the world do roseate spoonbills live?
Which region holds the roseate spoonbill's whole range?
- Africa and Europe
- The Americas
- Australia
Show the answer
The Americas
They live in North and South America.
From Florida and Texas through Central America and the Caribbean to Argentina.
The Western Hemisphere, where it is the only native spoonbill.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Brazil
Brazil covers about half of South America and is the fifth-largest country in the world. It holds most of the Amazon River basin and much of the world's largest rainforest, and about 214 million people lived there in 2026, most of them near the Atlantic coast.
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park covers 1.5 million acres at the southern tip of Florida. It protects marshes of sawgrass, forests of mangroves and pines, and shallow bays, all fed by fresh water flowing slowly south. It is home to alligators and crocodiles, the rare Florida panther and hundreds of kinds of birds, but invasive Burmese pythons have caused serious harm to its wildlife.
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Everglades National Park covers 1.5 million acres at the southern tip of Florida. It protects marshes of sawgrass, forests of mangroves and pines, and shallow bays, all fed by fresh water flowing slowly south. It is home to alligators and crocodiles, the rare Florida panther and hundreds of kinds of birds, but invasive Burmese pythons have caused serious harm to its wildlife.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how a spoonbill finds food by touch.
- Describe where the spoonbill's pink color comes from.
- Locate the spoonbill's range in the Americas.
- Discuss how protection helped wading birds recover from the plume trade.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might feeling for food work better than looking in muddy water?
- What would happen to a spoonbill's color if it ate different food?
- Why are wetlands important for so many birds?
Try at home or in class
- Hide small objects in a tray of muddy water or rice and find them with your eyes closed using a spoon: that is how a spoonbill feeds.
- Soak a white paper towel in water with a few drops of beet juice or food coloring to see how a pigment can change a color.
Key vocabulary: wading bird, roseate, carotenoids, colony, mangrove, plume hunter
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Platalea ajaja, global Red List assessment 2025 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Roseate Spoonbill , National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds
- Roseate spoonbill , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.