Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Taxobox
name = Roseate Spoonbill
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1



image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Ciconiiformes
familia = Threskiornithidae
genus = "Platalea"
species = "P. ajaja"
binomial = "Platalea ajaja"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
synonyms = "Ajaja ajaja"

The Roseate Spoonbill ("Platalea ajaja", sometimes separated in the monotypic genus "Ajaja") is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It is a mainly resident breeder in South America, the Caribbean, and the Gulf coast of the USA.

The Roseate Spoonbill trees, often mangroves, laying 2-5 eggs. It is 80 cm tall, with a 120-130 cm wingspan. It is long-legged, long-necked and has a long, spatulate bill. Adults have a bare greenish head, white neck, breast and back, and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey.

Sexes are similar, but immature birds have white, feathered heads and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. In 2006, a banded bird 16 years old was discovered, the oldest known individual. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060505/ap_on_sc/oldest_spoonbill;_ylt=AsTC8ysAMCjgrhFIjXzjRmJxieAA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-]

This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters on fish,crustaceanes and shrimp and ( maybe ) other water creatures, swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups.

Gallery

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* "National Geographic" "Field Guide to the Birds of North America" ISBN 0-7922-6877-6

External links

* [http://audubon-print.com/roseate-spoonbill.html Roseate Spoonbill by John Audubon]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/birdguide/pool/tags/Platalea%20ajaja Field Guide on Flickr]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • roseate spoonbill — noun tropical rose colored New World spoonbill • Syn: ↑Ajaia ajaja • Hypernyms: ↑spoonbill • Member Holonyms: ↑Ajaia, ↑genus Ajaia * * * noun : a spoonbill ( …   Useful english dictionary

  • roseate spoonbill — rausvoji girnovė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Ajaia ajaja; Platalea ajaja angl. roseate spoonbill vok. Rosalöffler, m rus. розовая колпица, f pranc. spatule rosée, f ryšiai: platesnis terminas – girnovės …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • roseate spoonbill — a tropical New World spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, having rose colored plumage and a bare head. See illus. under spoonbill. [1775 85, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • roseate spoonbill — noun Date: circa 1785 a spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) that is found from the southern United States to Patagonia and has chiefly pink plumage …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • roseate spoonbill — ro′seate spoon′bill n. orn a spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, of warmer parts of the New World, having rose colored plumage and a bare head • Etymology: 1780–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • Spoonbill — Spoon bill ( b[i^]l ), n. (Zo[ o]l.) (a) Any one of several species of wading birds of the genera {Ajaja} and {Platalea}, and allied genera, in which the long bill is broadly expanded and flattened at the tip. [1913 Webster] Note: The roseate… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • spoonbill — [spo͞on′bil΄] n. 1. any of several wading birds (family Threskiornithidae) with a broad, flat bill that is spoon shaped at the tip; esp., the roseate spoonbill ( Ajaia ajaja) of North and South America 2. any of a number of other birds with a… …   English World dictionary

  • spoonbill — /spoohn bil /, n. 1. any of several wading birds of the family Plataleidae, related to the ibises, having a long, flat bill with a spoonlike tip. 2. any of various birds having a similar bill, as the shoveler duck. 3. the paddlefish. [1670 80;… …   Universalium

  • Spoonbill — Taxobox name = Spoonbills image width = 200px image caption = Royal spoonbill image width = 250px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves ordo = Ciconiiformes familia = Threskiornithidae subfamilia = Plateinae subdivision ranks =… …   Wikipedia

  • roseate — adj. 1 = rose coloured (see ROSE(1)). 2 having a partly pink plumage (roseate spoonbill; roseate tern). Etymology: L roseus rosy (as ROSE(1)) …   Useful english dictionary

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