Roseate Spoonbill

Nature 2 Minutes

Physical Description

The roseate spoonbill is a large wading bird known for its pink plumage and distinctive spoon-shaped bill. Its upper neck and back are colored white, while the wings and feathers underneath display the more recognizable light shade of pink.

The wings and tail coverts are deep red, along with the legs and the iris of the eyes. Part of the spoonbill’s head is a distinct yellow-green. When they are young, the birds are duller in appearance, brightening as they mature.

Size

Reaching a height of up to 2.5 feet, the roseate spoonbill’s wingspan can stretch 1.5 times as wide, reaching up to 4 feet.

Native Habitat

In the United States, the roseate spoonbill can be found in southern Florida, coastal Texas and southwestern Louisiana. Their breeding range extends south from Florida through the Greater Antilles to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Roseate spoonbills usually live in marsh-like areas and mangroves.

Communication

While feeding, spoonbills utter a low, guttural sound. They are also known to call during breeding displays and when flying.

Food/Eating Habits

Using its spoon-like bill to scoop prey up from shallow water, the roseate spoonbill’s diet typically includes minnows, small crustaceans, insects and bits of plants. They feed in the early morning and evening hours in both fresh and saltwater wetlands. It is believed the roseate spoonbill receives its bright coloring from the pigments of the crustaceans that it eats.

At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, they are fed flamingo pellets, sea duck pellets and insects.

Social Structure

A social bird, the roseate spoonbill often feeds, roosts and flies in formation with its species. They nest singly or in pairs, usually in trees over water and sometimes on small islands.

Reproduction and Development

Typically roseate spoonbills do not breed until their third year. To attract one another, courtship displays include ritualized exchanges of nest material, dancing and clapping. Female spoonbills create deep, well-constructed nests out of sticks using materials brought to them by males. The Florida population usually nests in red and black mangroves sometimes with wood storks, while the Texas and Louisiana populations often nest on the ground in offshore island mixed colonies with gulls, terns and herons.

A female lays a clutch of one to five eggs. Both parents share incubation duties, which last about 22 to 24 days. A newly hatched chick has mostly pink skin with a sparse covering of white down. The parents feed the chick by dribbling regurgitated material into the baby’s upturned bill. After one month, the chick will begin to exercise by clambering through the branches or foliage surrounding the nest, and by six weeks, it will have developed wing feathers large enough for flight.

Sleep Habits

The roseate spoonbill sleeps standing, usually on one leg, with its head tucked beneath its back and shoulder feathers.

Lifespan

They can live up to 15 years in human care and an estimated 10 years in the wild.

SOURCE: national zoo.edu

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Published by pat frederick

Published

98 thoughts on “Roseate Spoonbill”

  2. Morning All!
    what a frickin nightmare with hughesnet!!

    the dang thing would not install yesterday at all. the booklet that it came with said it may take 60 minutes. we waited 2 hours and nothing. so we drove into town to talk with them. oh you have to be at your computer for us to help you he said. hubby said if i don’t have internet, i have very little phone reception. we said we’ve been trying to install the new modem for 2 hours. he said oh, it could take 24 HOURS.
    hubby asked for a tech to come out…he can’t get here till MAYBE Thursday! and it won’t be cheap.
    we asked for a tech anyway…the tech will call us (REALLY? we just said we can’t get good reception–) to make an appt.
    when we got back yesterday, we restarted the installation process–and let it run over night.
    nothing.
    so we removed the new modem and hubby hooked up the old equipment so we have something till Thursday…
    can’t wait to talk to customer service AFTER this gets fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. it’s working for regular internet, but hubby uses the vpn every day for work and that has stopped working. the tech guy checked out his computer and it’s not that. the only conclusion he had was the internet equipment was subpar. and the one rep said our modem is so old–don’t send it back, destroy it.
        so we can use it this way–at sloooooow speed but he can’t continue to work from home with the vpn

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Is Hughes the “source” of the VPN? I know very little about it but I do recall seeing a number of different options for VPN from different companies.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. no the vpn is different. but hubby took his computer over tot he tech’s house last week and the vpn fired right up…so the tech checked his computer and it’s working fine, so it’s gotta be something with the internet. and hughesnet said the router was 17 yrs old…and sent us a new one. once that’s installed, we can go from there…but that’s not happening

            Liked by 1 person

    2. Our education system has been seriously downgraded/compromised for social politics sake.

      Also – when teachers began to major in ‘Education’ instead of English or Math or Science, the teachers began to be less well educated and less competent in their fields.

      Now the teachers unions protect bad teachers and keep them in the classrooms.

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Our oldest daughter ran for School Board because of the poor teachers and ran into the A-A 2 crowd (Affirmative-Action African-American) and got called racist. This was a few years before the perverts got hold of the school systems.

          Liked by 1 person

  13. EXCERPT: “A Florida jury Thursday afternoon delivered substantial money justice to the surviving family members of a wife and mother who took her own life after she lost access to her daughter for nearly 90 days.

    A unanimous six-person jury in Sarasota County determined Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg was liable for the incidents leading up to the January 2017 death of Beata Kowalski, 43. Also, unanimously, jurors determined the hospital had to pay the Kowalski family well over $210 million for the losses they endured. Later, additional punitive damages assessed against the hospital increased that total substantially.

    In late 2016, then-10-year-old Maya Kowalski was admitted to the hospital for a debilitating condition called complex regional pain syndrome. She had suffered from the disorder since 2015 when she was 9, and the treatment that her doctors found worked best for her was ketamine therapy. But officials at the hospital balked. All Children’s staff reported Beata Kowalski for child abuse based on her suggestions and initiated a custody battle that took Maya away from her parents for 87 days. The results were disastrous….”

    https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/maya-kowalski-succeeds-on-all-counts-against-hospital-that-medically-kidnapped-her-and-drove-her-mother-to-kill-herself/

    Liked by 2 people

  14. “Scientists Want Meat Slapped With ‘Cigarette-Style’ Warning Labels About Climate Change. Here’s Why It’s Completely Asinine”
    BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE AND EVITA DUFFY-ALFONSO
    NOVEMBER 10, 2023
    9 MIN READ

    EXCERPT: “A group of scientists is proposing government-mandated cigarette-style caution labels on meat packages that could read, “Warning: Eating meat contributes to climate change.” The anti-meat scientists, who falsely claim meat consumption is detrimental to health and the environment, began pushing for the labels after conducting a study at the UK’s Durham University.

    The researchers took a group of 1,000 meat-eating adults and split them into four groups. Depending on what group a participant was in, they were shown photos of hot meals assigned climate, health, or pandemic warning labels or no warning label at all.

    “All the labels deterred meat consumption, with 7-10 percent of the participants choosing a non-meat meal.” However, when participants were asked how anxiety-inducing and believable they found each of the labels, they reported the climate change warning as the most credible.

    This prompted the scientists to advocate for government-mandated climate change warning labels on meat. “Reaching net zero is a priority for the nation and the planet,” said study author Jack Hughes. “As warning labels have already been shown to reduce smoking as well as drinking of sugary drinks and alcohol, using a warning label on meat-containing products could help us achieve this if introduced as national policy.”
    ———-
    Few know that the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a globalist Michael Bloomberg-run climate organization made up of nearly 100 cities across the globe, including 14 American cities, has a goal of completely eradicating meat and dairy consumption by 2030.

    In June, the U.S. Agriculture Department approved the consumption and sale of lab-grown meat in restaurants and, eventually, supermarkets. Ironically, “Analysis finds the carbon footprint of cultivated meat is likely to be higher than beef if current production methods are scaled up because they are still highly energy-intensive,” reports New Scientist…..”

    https://thefederalist.com/2023/11/10/scientists-want-meat-slapped-with-cigarette-style-warning-labels-about-climate-change-heres-why-its-completely-asinine/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. well isn’t that special? just cuz gatesofhell and others invested in lab meats and now NO ONE WANTS THEM…they are trying to scare people into eating them…sounds like the vaccine strategy.
      first offer them…if there’s hesitancy, try the scare method

      can’t have gatesofhell losing his investment

      Liked by 1 person

  15. The Roseate Spoonbill is a both a beautiful and comical bird! Our Creator has shown Himself and His Brilliance and Sense of Humor in the infinite variety and amazing features of all Creation!

    My Maternal Grandmother was a milliner in Atlanta GA when she was young. I’d love work with her to create a hat and outfit to go with it, using feathers from the Roseate Spoonbill!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. “Disappointed Veteran Wouldn’t Have Fought For Freedom Had He Known There Would Be All This Gay Stuff”
    U.S. · Nov 10, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    MANITOWOC, WI — Disappointed Army veteran Jack “Pappy” Van Hauser now says he probably wouldn’t have done all that fighting for freedom had he known there would be all this gay stuff now.

    “I wouldn’t have risked my life to fight the Viet Cong if I had known men were just going to use their freedom to wear Daisy Dukes and go traipsing around like a bunch of communist fairies,” said Pappy to family members as he turned on the television to watch Matlock but only saw more gay stuff. “All them boys screaming in the jungle. Limbs blown off. Blood and guts everywhere. I killed fifty men with my e-tool and lost a leg — all for this?”

    He tried changing the television station, but could only find more and more gay stuff on every channel. He then decided to get some fresh air on his porch only to realize there was a pride parade out front.

    “There, look! More gay stuff!” He exclaimed.

    His family members tried to educate him that it was actually non-binary, queer, and trans stuff now, but that didn’t seem to change his mind about it being more gay stuff.

    Pappy was decorated with multiple medals for his bravery in combat and received three purple hearts — a record of service, he says, that was not done for all this gay stuff.

    At publishing time, Private Pappy had declined to go to a ceremony at the White House honoring his service since the last picture he saw of the White House had “gay stuff” hanging on it which his family determined was the Progress Pride flag.”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. “Trump Swing-State Lead Expected To Hold Until 3 A.M. On Election Night”
    POLITICS · Nov 10, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    NEW YORK, NY — Political analysts and media pundits alike were stunned by recent poll results showing former President Donald Trump taking a commanding lead over Joe Biden across several swing states. Experts predict Trump’s lead will hold steady until approximately 3 A.M. on election night.

    “Though Trump has taken a significant lead, this is not an unexpected scenario,” said pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz. “We anticipate President Trump maintaining this lead until several hours after polls close in all states, likely sometime around 3 A.M., if history is any indication.”

    After being elected with an unprecedented 81 million votes in 2020, Biden has struggled to hold off a resurgent Trump. “It’s surprising to see Biden having such a hard time,” said CNN political anchor Wolf Blitzer. “With the economy in the toilet, prices skyrocketing, unrest across the country, and the world spiraling into chaos and war, we would have expected him to be polling far more strongly.”

    Despite trailing in multiple swing states, the Biden campaign expressed confidence that the president will win re-election. “We’re not worried at all,” said Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez. “We’ve dealt with this before. We were getting slaughtered by Trump on election night in 2020, and we all know how that turned out. If you get what I mean.”

    At publishing time, though the Biden campaign was already putting the finishing touches on its victory party for November of next year, officials refused to comment on the “BALLOT BOX STUFFERS WANTED — MUST WORK LATE NIGHTS” sign posted at the front door of campaign headquarters.”

    Liked by 1 person

  18. “‘Church Shouldn’t Be Political,’ Says Pastor With BLM, Pride Flags On Building”
    CHURCH · Nov 10, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    FINDLAY, OH — Reverend Jimmy Elymas of Saint Balaam Episcopalian forcefully condemned a growing number of conservative churches who have spoken out against abortion, claiming they care more about politics than following Jesus. “The church shouldn’t be political,” he said while standing in front of the giant BLM and pride flags in front of his own church building.

    When asked if the comically oversized BLM flag draped over the entrance to the church sanctuary constituted a double standard, he declined to comment. “Are you saying black lives don’t matter?” he instead demanded.

    The reverend’s sermons have drawn attention from the community in recent weeks due to his tendency to arbitrarily condemn certain biblical teachings as “political.” Curiously, members who grow in their faith appear to be leaving the church in droves, but overall membership hasn’t waned thanks to a recent sermon series entitled “God is love and I love sin, therefore God loves sin” which has attracted many new members who are really into sinning.

    “I don’t think saving the lives of babies is a political matter — ” one church member began to say before being excommunicated for overt-politicalness.

    “Look, it’s not hard! The church is not of this world, therefore it should never have any noticeable effect on the world whatsoever,” answered Rev. Elymas. “Unless we’re talking about supporting BLM. Or attending a pride parade. Or handing out pre-filled Democratic ballots with communion so that our local tax levy to give the poor free electric scooters will pass. Those are different, obviously.”

    At publishing time, Rev. Elymas had further condemned churches in the area for making the overtly political statement of not displaying a “Free Palestine” banner.”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. this is a yahoo news article so it is filled with bias. i read a bunch of the comments…most AGREED with his plan. the few that didn’t were whining abut who will clean toilets and hotel rooms and work in meat plants? college students certainly don’t want those jobs. BOO HOO. force some of these lazy ass communists to get a job!

    my one question is the deportation plans. how will we know WHERE to deport them TO? think any of them were honest about their country of origin?

    https://news.yahoo.com/sweeping-raids-giant-camps-mass-164740438.html

    Liked by 2 people

    2. Good Morning!
      Just wait for the psychosis when this regime re-initiates the draft…the one question that I have is, what will be the parameters for deferments? Who will be the preferred group…

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Morning Bill!
        illegals will get deferment because technically they’re not citizens subject to the draft.
        that way, there will be illegals to repopulate our country and thus claim it when the war has killed enough Americans.
        too cynical for a Sunday?

        Liked by 2 people

  23. Debbie Dooley
    @Crimsontider
    🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

    ***BREAKING NEWS***
    Federal Judge Totenberg issued an order on Nov. 10th denying the GA SoS/Election Board motion to dismiss the Curling v. Raffensperger case. SoS claimed Dominion was secure.

    The case is set for trial beginning Jan. 9th

    Totenberg was scathing in her order about the massive vulnerabilities of Dominion BMDs and the conduct of Raffensperger and company.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. OK, I’m reading the Order….here is a foundational issue: CISA IS CORRUPT, TOO!!!

      “…implementing other essential cybersecurity measures and policies recommended by the nation’s leading cybersecurity experts and firms, including the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA.”

      Liked by 1 person

  25. haven’t watched the video…but i will in the morning

    DogAndBone @Curious Cat
    @Curiousityfirst
    As at 5:00pm Nov 3, 2020 Fulton County’s Ralph Jones reported only 14,152 people had voted on election day. The County certified 59,143. Meaning 45,000 voted between 5-7pm. I found evidence that as at Nov 4 at 12:49am 6 hours AFTER had closed this screen capture shows that only 21,843 people, had in fact voted. David Cross @GAballots
    and I put our heads together to work out the numbers. Here is the video that explains it all👇. It would be a shame if this video went viral.

    https://rumble.com/vxr5x3-suspected-election-day-fraud-in-fulton-county-november-2020.html

    @VoterGa
    @GAballots
    @hw_floyd
    #Georgia @Rach_IC

    Liked by 1 person

  27. ROFLMAO – this is too funny!!!

    “The following article is out of the Palm Beach Post. I give the author credit for debunking some of the rumors, but most of his ‘facts’ are wrong, so what can you believe? FYI _ I live here – if this shit was legit, I’d know about it, being the desirable stud muffin I am.

    According to the author, There’s a story making the rounds these days about how people who live in The Villages, Florida’s biggest retirement complex, convey their kinky partner-swapping sexual appetites by placing color-coded loofah poufs on their cars.

    A Reddit thread even goes as far as identifying “the loofah code” — spelling out the seven loofah colors and what each of them means. (Spoiler alert: Purple poufs just like to watch.) This is, of course, one of those stories that is too good to be true. And just the latest chapter in the folkloric canon of sex-sodden tales that collect so easily at the sprawling, three-county, 76,000-resident (there are actually now 120,00 full-time residents), 55-and-over (it is not deed-restricted) community that bills itself as “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.” (It does say that, and has been saying it for 40 years)

    OK, and yes, some of those stories are true. Like the one about the couple who were caught in flagrante delicto on a metal utility box near a street intersection at 8:30 in the morning. (That one IS true – and it’s scary to even try to imagine what that looked like). Or another pair of Villagers who were arrested for having public outdoor sex in a town square pavilion that was otherwise used as a location for Republican candidates such as Rick Scott, Mitt Romney, and Sarah Palin to give political speeches. (That one’s also true.)

    With live music and alcohol flowing nightly and older, leisure-seeking adults looking to be friendly, there’s more to life than pickleball there.
    —————–
    So how did this loofah story come to life? Get ready for a real Florida answer: a local drag queen.

    One of the main vectors is an Orlando-area drag queen who goes by the stage name Tora, and is now starring as the lead role in a Villages production of the musical La Cage aux Folles. Tora made a TikTok video last month that shows grandparent-aged Villagers shopping for loofahs, and scenes of cars and golf carts adorned with different color poufs. It’s played to a soundtrack of the Dubskie song, “Oh No Oh No Oh No No No!” “They are everywhere!” Tora wrote. The drag queen’s video has been watched at least 6.3 million times, and spun off into stories in The New York Post and London’s Daily Mail. “Not so aloof-ah!,” read the London tabloid headline about the “frisky senior swingers” in Florida.”

    Read the rest of hs article here:
    https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/columns/2023/02/12/the-loofah-code-at-the-villages

    Liked by 1 person

        1. thanks! that worked!
          I wanted to see what the author thought they were for. it was as i suspected–to find their cars in parking lots.
          when we did our banana run last Wednesday evening, hubby was loading the groceries into the Jeep and i saw an older lady wandering up and down the aisle.
          I got out and asked if she was looking for someone, she said I can’t find my car. I asked her what color it was and she said red…so i carried her grocery bag and we walked up and down the rows. then she said–OH i have that thing!! then she clicked on a key fob and lights flashed that i saw down the row. so we walked down there and she said…there it is!

          Liked by 1 person

  30. whoa…school in PA has 17 SETS OF TWINS enrolled in the same class…
    FTA
    There has got to be something in the water in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, because this school year they had 17 sets of twins register for Kindergarten in their school district.

    Colonial School District’s community relations coordinator, Jessica Lester, told Fox News Digital that it was the district’s registrar who first noticed the trend,

    She would periodically stop by my office to let me know the numbers of twins registered for kindergarten because she knew it was so unusual. Each time she stopped in with a new number, I figured I wouldn’t hear from her again, and then she would give me another update.

    The class has been dubbed the “Twin-dergarteners” and contains seven sets of brothers and sisters, seven sets of sisters, and three sets of brothers.

    The twins all seem to be enjoying the abundance of twins in their schools and especially the abundance of attention that their class has received.

    https://notthebee.com/article/this-pennsylvania-school-district-has-a-record-breaking-17-sets-of-twins-starting-kindergarten-this-year/

    Liked by 1 person

  33. bunch of frickin savages–blacks, whites, whatever. NO KID should be doing this!
    Collin Rugg
    @CollinRugg
    JUST IN: Jonathan Lewis, a teenage boy who was beaten up by 15 students at a high school in Las Vegas, Nevada had died.

    Throw them all in prison for life.

    According to the boy’s father, the brutal beating happened after 17 year old Jonathan Lewis stood up for one of his “smaller friends.”

    “A couple (of kids) attacked him, and they weren’t able to hurt him enough, and they all attacked him at once,” the father, Jonathan Lewis said.

    In an emotional interview with a local news station, Lewis’ father remembered his son, saying he was a quiet kid and they had plans to move to Austin, Texas together.

    “I just love my children with all my heart, and it’s just unimaginable that we could ever come to this point,” Lewis, said.

    “I think there’s just a failure of all of humanity to recognize that we need to be teaching our youth how to coexist.”

    Lewis had kept his son on life support hoping for a miracle.

    Lewis was an artist and was considering joining the United States Navy like his grandfather.

    Devastating.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Perot Conservative
    November 12, 2023 1:15 pm

    From a friend: “The Biden people have created a special phone app for foreigners. Illegals can fly directly from their countries to cities in the USA without visas. This way they by-pass and scrutiny at the border. MTG posted this on a furious video on Twitter yesterday.

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Such a gorgeous day! I’ve got Jake in the bedroom with the patio doors open – 74, sunny and not even windy!!! Wheezer’s out cattin’ around somewhere….

    Liked by 1 person

    1. so jealous!!
      it is still below 40*!!! here.
      hubby and i just finished grouting the tile we laid in front of the new door.
      we had to get new grout since we didn’t have any left from when we first laid the tile. we had over a case of tile left, but no grout. we matched it best we could–and it’s not near the other door anyway…but i think it looks good!

      Liked by 1 person

  42. Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump

    Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago. Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act. I even supplied, upon request, Security Tapes to these Election Interfering Thugs. Is this really “Breaking News?” No, it’s “Breaking Fake News.” But what about all of the papers, boxes, and documents found at NUMEROUS Crooked Joe Biden places, like his garage floor by his cherished Corvette, or CHINATOWN where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out. He doesn’t come under the Presidential Records Act because he wasn’t President at the time. Deranged Jack Smith has spent over $100,000,000 investigating me on this phony Russia, Russia, Russia, type Scam. How much $’s have they spent investigating Crooked Joe on his much bigger boxes deal?

    Liked by 1 person

  43. this is RICH…lol…it’s from cnbc so take it with a grain of salt. the article discusses what the President said above, but they note this:
    “Under the PRA, the official records of the President and his staff are owned by the United States, not by the President,” the site says. The Archives is required under the law to take custody of these records when a president, including Trump, leaves office.

    SO, riddle me this cnbc…where are OBUMMER’S MILLIONS of records he promised to put ON LINE? that’s been almost 8 years ago asswipes…

    https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/11/10/trump-judge-rejects-classified-documents-trial-delay.html

    Liked by 1 person

  45. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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