Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist
If it’s a pink bird you see flying around coastal Texas, it’ll be a roseate spoonbill migrating back to the coastal shores and resacas.
In flight, the roseate spoonbill looks all pink. When wading, it’s easier to see their true colors. Adult roseate spoonbills have no feathers on their head which is yellowish green with a black band around the base of the skull at the ear openings and nape. The gular sac (throat pouch) can be orange; the eyes are red. The neck and back feathers are white, the wings and underparts are pink, with red on the tops of the wings, and bright red shoulder patches. Their legs and feet are pink. Juveniles are paler pink and have a feathered head for three years.
Both male and female have the same plumage and coloring; males are slightly larger and have a little larger bill than females. They fly in flocks in long diagonal lines with their legs and neck stretched out. The bird is about two and a half feet in length with a wingspan of about four and a half feet.
Roseate spoonbills are social and live amicably in large colonies with other roseate spoonbills, ibises, storks, herons, egrets and cormorants. They spend a lot of time in shallow water feeding. They sweep their open bill from side to side in the water to sift up food while slowly walking forward. A roseate spoonbill’s bill has touch receptors that help it feel its prey. Their nostrils are located at the top of the long, flat bill, which allows the bird to breathe while the bill is under water.
Their diet consists of minnows and other small fish, small crustaceans, shrimp, mollusks, snails and insects, especially beetles, and sometimes plant matter that accidently enters the mix.
Scientists believe that the roseate spoonbill’s bright coloring, as with flamingos, is the result of the crustaceans it eats. Some crustaceans, like shrimp and crayfish, feed on algae that contain pigments called carotenoids, which is responsible for the pink coloring in the bird’s feathers.
Roseate spoonbills sleep standing, usually on one leg, with their head tucked beneath their back and shoulder feathers.
In March, roseate spoonbills return to the bays, marshes and estuaries along the Gulf Coast. Beginning in October, most migrate to Central and South America.
Most roseate spoonbills don’t mate until their fourth year. Courtship displays include ritualized exchanges of nest material, dancing and bill clapping. In Texas, their mating season is March through June. A pair remain monogamous for the breeding season but not for life.
Along the Texas Gulf coast, they often nest on the ground in offshore islands in mixed colonies with gulls, terns, herons and other wading species.
The female builds the nest in thick vegetation, above water, with nesting materials brought to her by the male. Females typically lay two to five eggs, which hatch after about 24 days. Both male and female take turns sitting on the eggs and feeding the young. The young are ready to fly in about eight weeks.
References helpful in writing this story are, “Birds of Texas,” Smithsonian Handbooks, by Fred J. Alsop, III; nationalzoo.si.edu, nhpbs.org/natureworks, myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats, tpwd.texas.gov, Audubon.org