{"id":1661,"date":"2010-12-19T10:41:50","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T16:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2024-09-11T15:30:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T20:30:49","slug":"roseate-spoonbills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/19\/roseate-spoonbills\/","title":{"rendered":"Roseate Spoonbills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RoseateRoseate Spoonbill feeding – D200, handheld, laying in the tidal mud, ISO 200, f\/6.3, 1\/1250, 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Cotton candy pink… are the descriptive words I thought of when I saw my first Roseate Spoonbill. Of the world’s six species of Spoonbills the only ones that\u00a0are pink are are the roseate spoonbills and it also the only spoonbill native to North America.<\/p>\n

Spoonbills were named for their bills which at the tip are spoon-shaped. I’ll post some\u00a0immature\u00a0roseate spoonbills another time and just focus on the adults now. \u00a0The bird above is in breeding plumage, the head turns a pale greenish color and just below that there will be an almost black\u00a0 area on the neck, the bill will show some dark speckling and the yellows near the tail will be more pronounced, it also seems to me that the carmine red on the wings becomes redder.<\/p>\n

\"RoseateRoseate Spoonbill in the light of the setting sun – D200, sitting in the water of the lagoon, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 250, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Roseate Spoonbills can be found in saltwater tidal lagoons and in freshwater areas such as marshes, swamps and lakes. They feed on small fish, shrimp and crabs in the water by swinging their bills side to side in a sweeping motion to locate their prey. They fly slowly which can help when taking images in flight.<\/p>\n

Some nicknames for the roseate spoonbill are Flame Bird, Banjo-bill, Pink Curlew, Pink <\/em>and Pinkie<\/em> but the one I would hear\u00a0most often is Spoonie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"RoseateRoseate Spoonbill on the edge of a lagoon – D200, sitting in the water of the lagoon, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of their unique coloration\u00a0and bill shape spoonbills\u00a0stand out from the other wading birds and are easily recognizable. The spoonbill above is an adult in nonbreeding plumage. I find that photographing them is best in early morning or late afternoon light as the whites of the neck and belly are easily blown out.<\/p>\n

On photo critiques sites spoonbills are often presented with too much saturation applied in post processing. \u00a0I much prefer to keep the saturation\u00a0of spoonbills or any other species on a more natural and realistic level.\u00a0 Spoonies are colorful enough naturally. None of my spoonbill images posted here have had any increase of saturation applied in post processing.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Roseate Spoonbill in afternoon light – D200, laying on the sandy shoreline, full frame, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 250, 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I always think of “Cotton Candy Pink” when I photograph this species or look at my images of them. They may be odd looking birds to some because of the bald head and strange shaped bill but I find all species of birds to have their own beauty and will photograph any\u00a0bird that I see through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Cotton candy pink… are the descriptive words I thought of when I saw my first Roseate Spoonbill. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134403,"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":[27,25,704,2000,177],"tags":[215,4040,3970,4266,4156,1481,4810,4811,4001],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-roseate-spoonbills","tag-bird-id","tag-feeding","tag-hunting","tag-platalea-ajaja","tag-resting","tag-roseate-spoonbill","tag-spoonbill","tag-spoonbills","tag-wading-bird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/roseate-spoonbill-feeding-mia-mcpherson-5333.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10181,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/11\/07\/adult-roseate-spoonbill-on-the-gulf-coast\/","url_meta":{"origin":1661,"position":0},"title":"Adult Roseate Spoonbill on the Gulf Coast","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Roseate Spoonbill at the north beach lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/roseate-spoonbill-adult-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/roseate-spoonbill-adult-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/roseate-spoonbill-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7230.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/roseate-spoonbill-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7230.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/05\/a-roseate-spoonbill-in-a-lagoon-with-a-young-mangrove\/","url_meta":{"origin":1661,"position":2},"title":"Roseate Spoonbill In A Lagoon With A Young Mangrove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I can recall vividly the morning I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon with a young mangrove by its legs at Fort De Soto County Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon with a young mangrove in Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/roseate-spoonbill-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/roseate-spoonbill-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/roseate-spoonbill-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7336.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/roseate-spoonbill-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7336.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7059,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/09\/roseate-spoonbills-in-a-sea-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1661,"position":3},"title":"Roseate Spoonbills In A Sea Fog","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One very foggy May morning I came across a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach and photograph them for about 15 minutes before they flew off to find food.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Roseate 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, 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