{"id":10181,"date":"2013-11-07T04:59:48","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T11:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=10181"},"modified":"2024-10-31T09:17:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T14:17:05","slug":"adult-roseate-spoonbill-on-the-gulf-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/11\/07\/adult-roseate-spoonbill-on-the-gulf-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Roseate Spoonbill on the Gulf Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Roseate Spoonbill on the Gulf Coast – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people think the featherless heads of Roseate Spoonbills are ugly but I think that everything about them is wonderful.<\/p>\n

Of the six species of spoonbills only the Roseate Spoonbill is found in North America and it is the only Spoonbill that is so vividly colored. Their pink coloration comes from their diet which includes crustaceans.<\/p>\n

One of the nicknames for Roseate Spoonbills is “Flame Bird” and when I looked at the vivid crimson feathers of the scapulars it is easy to see why they were given that name.<\/p>\n

I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill on a warm April morning at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach near a tidal lagoon that had sand dunes at the north end of it.<\/p>\n

That morning I had about ten minutes with several Roseate Spoonbills and a white morph Reddish Egret before a tourist walked up behind me and shouted “Is that a Flamingo?” which scared all of the birds away.<\/p>\n

I’m still grateful for the few minutes I had them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Roseate Spoonbill photos plus facts and information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of the six species of spoonbills only the Roseate Spoonbill is found in North America and it is the only Spoonbill that is so vividly colored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,177],"tags":[4004,4039,4021,5132,4077,4035,3980,4266,4017,4235,165,4001,4032],"class_list":["post-10181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-roseate-spoonbills","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-bird-photography","tag-coastal","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nature-photography","tag-pinellas-county","tag-platalea-ajaja","tag-sand","tag-sand-dunes","tag-spring","tag-wading-bird","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/roseate-spoonbill-adult-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2Ed","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43255,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/25\/juvenile-roseate-spoonbill-on-floridas-west-coast\/","url_meta":{"origin":10181,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Roseate Spoonbill on Florida’s West Coast","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this juvenile Roseate Spoonbill in May of 2008 from inside a lagoon at Fort De Soto's north while the immature spoonbill and a few adults preened and rested on the shoreline.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Roseate Spoonbill at the edge of a lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/roseate-spoonbill-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/roseate-spoonbill-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Spoonbill preening in a sea fog, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-fog-low-light-mia-mcpherson-8668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-fog-low-light-mia-mcpherson-8668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-fog-low-light-mia-mcpherson-8668.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/19\/roseate-spoonbills\/","url_meta":{"origin":10181,"position":2},"title":"Roseate Spoonbills","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Cotton candy pink... are the descriptive words I thought of when I saw my first Roseate Spoonbill.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roseate Spoonbill feeding in a quiet lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-feeding-mia-mcpherson-5333.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-feeding-mia-mcpherson-5333.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-feeding-mia-mcpherson-5333.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6867,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/22\/roseate-spoonbill-in-evening-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":10181,"position":3},"title":"Roseate Spoonbill In Evening Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Evening can have marvelous light too though as shown in the Roseate Spoonbill image above that I photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a tidal lagoon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roseate Spoonbill in evening light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/roseate-spoonbill-mia-mcpherson-6232.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/roseate-spoonbill-mia-mcpherson-6232.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/roseate-spoonbill-mia-mcpherson-6232.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24063,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/18\/roseate-sunset\/","url_meta":{"origin":10181,"position":4},"title":"Roseate Sunset","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have always loved the pinks of the Roseate Spoonbills and the evening sun just made the colors even more delightful looking.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roseate Sunset, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-sunset-mia-mcpherson-6528.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7527,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/15\/roseate-spoonbill-and-wood-stork-size-comparison\/","url_meta":{"origin":10181,"position":5},"title":"Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork Size Comparison","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This photo shows a Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork on the shoreline of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and it shows how the Wood Stork can dwarf the Roseate Spoonbill in height.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wood Stork walking near a lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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