A Roseate Spoonbill, which the Audubon Society describes as "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close," landed in Huntley Meadows this week, drawing hundreds of local nature photographers. The bird is far from its normal home in Florida, Louisiana, Texas and other parts of the far Southeastern United States.
No one is sure why this spoonbill came so far north, but a recent tropical storm in the Southeast may have sent many birds flying for safer locales.
Roseate spoonbills get their pink color from the foods they eat, including crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates that contain pigments called carotenoids.
According to the Audubon Society, the birds were very common in parts of the Southeast until the 1860s, but they were "virtually eliminated from the United States as a side-effect of the destruction of wader colonies by plume hunters." The birds "began to re-colonize Texas and Florida early in 20th century. [They are] still uncommon and local, vulnerable to degradation of feeding and nesting habitats."
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Photo by Jessica Bowser
A Roseate Spoonbill landed at Huntley Meadows this week.
Photo above by Alexandria resident Jessica Bowser, host of the Virginia Outdoor Adventures podcast.
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See many more photos in the Huntley Meadows Park Photography Facebook group here.
A video of the Roseate Spoonbill in flight at Huntley Meadows:
