Bold, Bizarre and Brilliant: 8 Fascinating Facts About the Roseate Spoonbill

1. That strange, spoon-shaped beak is a wetland power tool. 

It may look odd, but the spoonbill’s flat, wide beak is perfectly designed for foraging in shallow water. Spoonbills feed with their beaks submerged, sweeping their heads from side to side, feeling for prey. Sensitive nerve endings in the bill allow it to snap shut the moment it touches something edible. 

There’s a bonus advantage to this approach. While most wading birds hunt by eyesight, the spoonbill’s touch-based strategy allows it to feed at night, when there’s less competition for resources.

2. Like flamingos, their cotton-candy pink coloring comes from the food they eat. 

Spoonbill feathers turn pink when their diets are rich in carotenoids, the natural pigments found in crustaceans and other small aquatic animals. 

3. They’re not closely related to flamingos.

They might look the part, but roseate spoonbills actually belong to their own group: the spoonbill family. Spoonbill species can be found on every continent except Antarctica, but roseate spoonbills have a special distinction – they're the only species found in North America. 

4. Their name is almost as poetic as their plumage. 

The roseate spoonbill’s scientific name is Platalea ajaja. “Platalea” comes from Latin and is translated as “broad,” a nod to their beaks. “Ajaja” isn’t internet slang from your Spanish-speaking friend – it's derived from a Tupi (Indigenous Brazilian) word for pink. And “roseate” is a term used mostly by biologists that means "similar to a rose flower, but in a specifically pinkish way."

5. They hunt in groups, marching side by side through the water.

Spoonbills forage in groups of just a few birds to several hundred, wading slowly through shallow wetlands in a loose line. It’s a team effort: all that bill-stirring creates small whirlpools that lift crustaceans from the muddy bottom for the whole group to eat.

6. Climate change is reshaping their natural range. 

Historically, roseate spoonbills were most common in the wetlands and swamps of Florida, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean. But over the last few decades, they've been spotted all over the U.S. East Coast – even as far north as Minnesota and southern Canada. They fly south when the weather gets cold, but their expanding range offers biologists plenty of important clues about shifting ecosystems. 

7. They’re survivors of the “Feather Wars.”

In the late 1800s, it was considered fashionable for women to adorn their hats with exotic feathers. As demand surged, hunters relentlessly targeted birds like the roseate spoonbill for their plumage. In just a few decades, millions of wild birds were slaughtered, and some species were wiped out completely. Eventually, conservation laws like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 gave the birds legal protection, and spoonbill populations slowly recovered over the next several decades. Today, the roseate spoonbill's biggest threat is habitat loss, as wetlands and coastlines across their range are converted into homes or agricultural land.

8. They’re an indicator of ecosystem health.

Roseate spoonbills are considered an “indicator species” – to scientists and wildlife managers, their presence is a sign that the place they’re inhabiting holds clean water and abundant food. Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, spoonbills help reveal which ecosystems are thriving and which ones need attention.

Want to be part of their story? Visit the Amazonia exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and come face-to-face with roseate spoonbills and other amazing animal species. Every visit supports the conservation work that protects them in the wild.