Roseate spoonbill

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Roseate spoonbill
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene–present
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RoseateSpoonbillCatazaja.jpg
In Catazajá, Chiapas
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Platalea
Species:
P. ajaja
Binomial name
Platalea ajaja
Platalea ajaja map.svg
Synonyms

Ajaia ajaja(Linnaeus, 1758)

The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a gregarious 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.

Contents

Taxonomy

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. [2]

Description

The roseate spoonbill is 71–86 cm (28–34 in) long, with a 120–133 cm (47–52 in) wingspan and a body mass of 1.2–1.8 kg (2.6–4.0 lb). [3] The tarsus measures 9.7–12.4 cm (3.8–4.9 in), the culmen measures 14.5–18 cm (5.7–7.1 in) and the wing measures 32.3–37.5 cm (12.7–14.8 in) and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate bill all appear elongated. [4] Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding [5] ) 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. [6] 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. [7]

Distribution

In the United States, the species is locally common in Texas, Florida, and southwest Louisiana. [8] 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, [9] [10] and from central Florida's Atlantic coast [11] at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Myrtle Beach. [12]

Plume hunting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries almost drove the roseate spoonbill to extinction. [13] [8] 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. [14] [13] 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, [13] 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. [15] A large flock was spotted in Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia, drawing a large crowd of spectators. [16]

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. [17]

Behavior

Little is known about the roseate spoonbill's behavior outside of their foraging habits. [18] 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. [18]

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. [18] [19] [20] 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. [21] Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with other freshwater birds, such as snowy egrets, great egrets, tricolored herons and American white pelicans.[ 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). [22]

Breeding

The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying two to five eggs, which are whitish with brown markings. [7] 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. [10]

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. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoonbill</span> Genus of birds

Spoonbills are a genus, Platalea, of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name Platalea derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great blue heron</span> Species of bird

The great blue heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is occasionally found in the Azores and is a rare vagrant to Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether this represents a white color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threskiornithidae</span> Family of birds

The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and have found the spoonbills to be nested within the Old World ibises, and the New World ibises as an early offshoot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altamira oriole</span> Species of bird

The Altamira oriole is a New World oriole. The bird is widespread in subtropical lowlands of the Mexican Gulf Coast and northern Central America, the Pacific coast and inland. They have since spread to southern Texas, but this was not until 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American white ibis</span> Bird in the ibis family

The American white ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. This particular ibis is a medium-sized bird with an overall white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossy ibis</span> Species of bird

The glossy ibis is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great egret</span> Species of bird

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, or great white egret or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently it is also spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowy egret</span> Species of bird

The snowy egret is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, aigrette, which is a diminutive of aigron, 'heron'. The species name thula is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American avocet</span> Species of bird

The American avocet is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae, found in North America. It spends much of its time foraging in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side to side in water as it seeks crustacean and insect prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian spoonbill</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian spoonbill, or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The genus name Platalea is from Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill, and leucorodia is from Ancient Greek leukerodios "spoonbill", itself derived from leukos, "white" and erodios "heron". In England it was traditionally known as the "shovelard", a name later used for the Northern Shoveller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattle egret</span> Cosmopolitan genus of heron

The cattle egret (Bubulcus) is a cosmopolitan genus of heron found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. According to the IOC bird list, it contains two species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret, although some authorities regard them as a single species. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American redstart</span> Species of bird

The American redstart is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World (common) redstart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reddish egret</span> Species of bird

The reddish egret is a medium-sized heron that is a resident breeder in Central America, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of the United States, and Mexico. The egret is known for its unusual foraging behavior compared to other herons as well as its association with mud flats, its habitat of choice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricolored heron</span> Species of bird

The tricolored heron, formerly known as the Louisiana heron, is a small species of heron native to coastal parts of the Americas. The species is more solitary than other species of heron in the Americas and eats a diet consisting mostly of small fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal spoonbill</span> Species of bird

The royal spoonbill also known as the black-billed spoonbill, occurs in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in New Caledonia. The royal spoonbill lives in wetlands and feeds on crustaceans, fish and small insects by sweeping its bill from side to side. It always flies with its head extended. Widespread throughout its large range, the royal spoonbill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-billed spoonbill</span> Species of bird

The yellow-billed spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is native to Australia, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

Sipacate-Naranjo National Park is located along the Pacific coast of Escuintla in Guatemala. The park includes mangrove forests, lagoons and sandy beaches and covers an area of 20 km long and 1 km wide, stretching between the coastal towns of Sipacate and El Naranjo.

Robert Porter Allen was an American ornithologist and environmentalist. He achieved worldwide attention for his rescue operations of the whooping crane in the 1940s and 1950s.Allen helped save the roseate spoonbill from extinction. In response to the National Audubon Society's request he moved to Tavernier, Florida, and set up a tent on Bottle Key in the Florida Bay in 1938 so that he could observe the nesting Spoonbills up close. His observations led to the spoonbills' protection from human predation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western cattle egret</span> Species of bird

The western cattle egret is a species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Most taxonomic authorities lump this species and the eastern cattle egret together, but some separate them. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Platalea ajaja". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22697574A93621961. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697574A93621961.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Chesser, R.Terry; Yeung, Carol K.L.; Yao, Cheng-Te; Tians, Xiu-Hua; Li Shou-Hsien (2010). "Molecular phylogeny of the spoonbills (Aves: Threskiornithidae) based on mitochondrial DNA". Zootaxa. 2603 (2603): 53–60. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2603.1.2. ISSN   1175-5326.
  3. ↑ "Roseate Spoonbill Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org.
  4. ↑ Hancock, Kushlan & Kahl (1992). Storks, Ibises, and Spoonbills of the World. Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-12-322730-0.
  5. ↑ Howell, SNG; Webb, S (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. pp.  147–8. ISBN   978-0-19-854012-0.
  6. ↑ 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).
  7. 1 2 Howell, SNG; Webb, S (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. pp.  147–8. ISBN   978-0-19-854012-0.
  8. 1 2 "Roseate Spoonbill". Audubon. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  9. ↑ "Roseate Spoonbill". Waterbird Conservation. National Audubon Society. Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  10. 1 2 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. (subscription required)
  11. ↑ Graham Jr., Frank (July–August 2001). "Birds: A Wing and a Prayer". Audubon Magazine: 87–91.
  12. ↑ Quinn, Joe. "Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina: White Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, American Alligator". Smithsonian Magazine.
  13. 1 2 3 Schools, Ben (2020-09-03). "The Roseate Spoonbill: A welcome presence, set to stay". Charleston Mercury. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  14. ↑ Miles, Suzannah (2020-10-22). "Follow the colorful life of the roseate spoonbill | Charleston Magazine". CHARLESTON SC |. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  15. ↑ "Tropical Pink Bird Spotted In D.C. For The First Time (It's Not A Flamingo)". DCist. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  16. ↑ "Rarely-seen Spoonbills Draw Fans to Huntley Meadows Park".
  17. ↑ Waters, Hannah (Winter 2022). "Flight of the Spoonbills". Audubon. pp. 18–27. Retrieved January 2, 2023. Over the past 20 years the nesting range of Florida's Roseate Spoonbills has shifted north … Rising seas have seeped into the birds' historical foraging grounds in Florida Bay, driving them into shallower areas of Everglades National Park and beyond.
  18. 1 2 3 Dumas, Jeannette V. (2020). "Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), version 1.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.rosspo1.01.
  19. ↑ "The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago - Ajaia ajaja (Roseate Spoonbill)" (PDF). University of the West Indies St. Augustine.
  20. ↑ "Ajaia ajaja (Roseate spoonbill)". Animal Diversity Web .
  21. ↑ Britto, Vanessa O.; Bugoni, Leandro (2015). "The contrasting feeding ecology of great egrets and roseate spoonbills in limnetic and estuarine colonies". Hydrobiologia. 744: 187–210. doi:10.1007/s10750-014-2076-1. S2CID   254541980.
  22. ↑ Russell, James K. (1978). "Effects of Interspecific Dominance among Egrets Commensally Following Roseate Spoonbills". The Auk. 95 (3): 608–610. doi:10.1093/auk/95.3.608. JSTOR   4085177.
  23. ↑ "Oldest Known Roseate Spoonbill Identified Thanks to Lucky Photograph Researchers: Oldest Wild Spoonbill Found - National Audubon Society". Audubon.org. 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
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