Roseate spoonbill Ajaia ajaja

Identification Tips:

• Length: 28 inches Wingspan: 53 inches
• Sexes similar
• Large, long-legged wader with a long neck
• Long, spatulate bill
• Holds neck extended in flight

Adult:

• Red eyes
• Bill grayish with dark mottling
• Head greenish and unfeathered with black nape band
• White neck and back
• Pink back and wings
• Legs red, feet dark

Immature:

• Yellow eyes
• Bill yellowish
• White or very pale pink body plumage
• White feathered head

Similar species:

No other bird has a similar bill. Flamingos are also long-legged pink wading birds but have short, thick, hooked bills and black in the flight feathers.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.