I saw one in the Everglades and in the Keys. Also, the roseate spoonbill has mysteriously traveled up north, like Minnesota and New Jersey. It has touch receptors in its bill that help it feel its prey. NPS photo. Roseate Spoonbill – The Roseate Spoonbill is the oddball in this bird family. The horny bill is equipped with sensitive touch receptors that detect vibrations given off by prey. It sweeps its open bill from side to side in the water to sift up food like small fish, shrimp, mollusks, snails and insects. Spoonbills are a genus, Platalea, of large, long-legged wading birds. Spoonbills feed in shallow waters, walking forward slowly while they swing their heads from side to side, sifting the muck with their wide flat bills. Roseate Spoonbill foraging for food. It's colors is what makes it the best spoonbill ever. Diet The roseate spoonbill spends a lot of its time in shallow water feeding. I adore this bird because of it remarkable pink feathers and AMAZING bill. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. While all the other species have white plumage, Roseate Spoonbills are brilliant shades of pink. Any plant material they eat is probably accidental. Roseate spoonbill: Scientific classification; Kingdom: Animalia: Phylum: Chordata: Class: Aves: Order: Pelecaniformes: Family: Threskiornithidae: Subfamily: Plataleinae: Genus: Platalea Linnaeus, 1758: Species See text. A major period of decline for the spoonbill occurred in the early 1800s when the wings of this beautiful creature were made into fans, a "regular … Roseate Spoonbills have been my been my favorite bird since I was 2. Roseate spoonbills feed at day or night. A spoonbill feeds more by touch than by sight - - a handy adaptation for an animal that often feeds in water that's muddy or clogged with dense vegetation. Just like flamingos, this species gets its pink color from the shrimp and small invertebrates that it eats. The roseate spoonbill lives in mangrove swamps, tidal ponds, saltwater lagoons and other areas with brackish water. Locally common in coastal Florida, Texas, and southwest Louisiana, they are usually in small flocks, often associating with other waders. The Roseate Spoonbill sweeps this distinctively shaped bill from side to side close to the bottom of the water, creating little whirlpools of water that trap prey inside them, enabling the Roseate Spoonbill to feed. The shape of their bills gives us a clue about how they feed. Nesting Roseate Spoonbill – High Island, Texas – Personal Photo GKennedy. Royal Spoonbill – This species lives in Australia, New Zealand, and some of the surrounding islands. The Roseate Spoonbill is found along the south Florida coast from the Florida Keys north to Tampa, with some populations in northeastern Florida and the eastern coast of Texas down to Mexico. Spoonbills are easily identified not only by their bright pink and white colors but by their distinctive bill shape. Gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close is the Roseate Spoonbill. Touchy-Feely.