Roseate Spoonbill
Fun Facts

• A spoonbill's nostrils are located at top of the bill, making it possible for the bird to breathe while it feeds with its bill under water.

• Spoonbills utter a low, gutteral sound while feeding.

• Adult spoonbills do not reproduce until they are at least 3 years old.

• Ibis and spoonbill chicks look almost identical, with short white down, yellow eyes, pink skin and a short, fleshy beak. As the chicks grow and fledge, their bills mature into the thin, curved ibis bill or the broad spatulate spoonbill.

• The chicks beg for food with whistling noises. When a parent opens its bill, the chick sticks its head inside and the parent regurgitates partially digested food for the chick to eat.

• A spoonbill flies with its neck stretched full forward, its legs and feet extended behind, and slow, easy wing flappings. Flocks of spoonbills fly in diagonal formation.

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