Roseate Spoonbill
© Larry Lynch
The aptly-named Roseate Spoonbill is one of Florida's most distinctive wading birds. Not related to flamingos (for which they are sometimes mistaken), this bird feeds on fish, crustaceans and aquatic insects with its unusual spatulate bill. Spoonbills nest at several sites throughout the state, but can be found almost at any coastal wetland around the peninsula. The Tampa Bay area is one of the best regions in the state to observe them, where approximately 15% of the population nests. They are regular, but uncommon, summer visitors to north Florida and the panhandle; mostly these are juvenile birds. Small numbers of juvenile spoonbills are found annually at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, especially between June and October. Plume hunters caused a severe population decline in the early 1900s and spoonbills continue to suffer from habitat loss and degradation today. It is listed as species of special concern in Florida.
For more information, including a range map and sound recording, visit The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds website.
Recommended GFBWT sites:
- Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve
- E. G. Simmons Park
- Everglades National Park: Main Entrance and Shark Valley
- Fort De Soto Park
- J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands at Viera (Viera Wetlands)
- Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West
- Stormwater Treatment Area 5
-
Upper Tampa Bay Park
Bird's habitat
They nest mostly on islands in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats, including bays, mangroves, marshes, lakes and swamps.
