General Description: Roseate Spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) are wading birds with long legs and a long, spatulate bill. Breeding birds are pink on the wings and legs, and white on the neck and breast. Sometimes the bill is pink, otherwise it is gray. Juveniles are similar, but pale. Roseate Spoonbills fly with the bill and legs outstretched.

Taxonomy: Pelecaniformes, Threskiornithidae, Plataleinae.

Favored Habitat: Ponds, marshes, salt flats.

Where to Find: Don't look for Roseate Spoonbills around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them from south Texas to Florida and points south. Ding Darling NWR, the City of Dunedin, and Everglades National Park are good places to see these birds. Also look for them in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Comments: These birds live in marshes and swamps and feed by walking along, swinging their slightly open bill from side to side. When they taste a little fish, shrimp, or other tasty item, they snap the bill closed and swallow it.