Roseate Spoonbill and Friend at Ding Darling, Florida

D200-PAUL
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Roseate Spoonbill and Friend at Ding Darling, Florida
Roseate Spoonbill and Friend at Ding Darling, Florida

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I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge located in Sanibel, a barrier island on the southwest coast of Florida. By far, the most popular area in Ding Darling is the paved one-way wildlife drive which runs generally south to north through about 4 miles (6.5km) of wetlands. The wildlife drive orientation provides the birds to the western (left) side of the roadway with direct sunlight illumination in the mornings and thus when the waters are smooth, outstanding reflections are generally available. There is a drawback: The birds are most often pretty far from the roadway, making the longest lenses almost a must. Here the Roseate is joined by a heron/egret for a snack on the local wildlife. During the capture of this image I only had eyes for the Roseate and so it wasn't until I saw the image on my computer monitor that I realized I had captured another bird (an immature Reddish Egret or a Little Blue Heron) in the image.
The Roseate Spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Gulf Coast of the United States, and from central Florida's Atlantic coast at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Huntington Beach State Park. The Roseate Spoonbill is 28 to 34 inches (71–86cm) long, with a 47 to 52 inch (20–133cm) wingspan and a body mass of 2.6 to 4.0 pounds (1.2–1.8kg). Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding) and a white neck, back and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey and there are no significant differences between the sexes. Like the American flamingo, their pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin. Another carotenoid, astaxanthin, can also be found deposited in flight and body feathers. The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched and alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.

Explored July 1, 2024.

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Taken on: June 22, 2024
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Sets appears in:   • Explored    • Birds of Florida - Roseates   
Groups appears in:   • -- Only Birds!    • Marshbirds & Allies of the World - Rails, Bitterns, & More Birds   
Camera: Nikon D850, f/14.0, 0.013 sec (1/80) sec (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Nikon D850
Aperture: f/14.0
Exposure Time: 0.013 sec (1/80)
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