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Roseate Spoonbill — printable fact sheet
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Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja
Platalea ajaja is pink for the same reason a flamingo is: carotenoid pigments, particularly canthaxanthin, absorbed from crustaceans and other prey and deposited in the feathers. A spoonbill fed a carotenoid-poor diet fades to white, and juveniles are pale, developing full colou…
Did you know?
- Unlike flamingos, the Roseate Spoonbill's pink coloration can fade if their diet lacks enough crustaceans and other pigment-rich foods.
- Spoonbills are not related to flamingos at all — they are ibises, family Threskiornithidae, and the shared pink is pure dietary convergence. Their fans were sold as souvenirs in the 1800s, made from the wings, but the plumes wash out and fade, which is one reason they were less commercially valuable than egret aigrettes. Roseate spoonbill nests are increasingly shifting north in Florida as sea level rise and mismanaged water flow degrade their historic Florida Bay foraging grounds.
What I learned
Draw the roseate spoonbill
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