Roseate Spoonbill_
The “spoonies” are started to show up and beginning to show their breeding colors. They are one of our flashiest birds and also entertaining to observe. They frequent shallow waters, swishing their bill around until it makes contact with a small fish or other prey, which they deftly manage to quickly toss up and into their gullet. Their rookeries are surrounded by alligator infested water. It’s my thought (biologists feel free to chime in) that although the gators may take an occasion bird, they serve the more important function of keeping furry predators off the rookery where they could wreak havoc. Thus, the gators are both predator and guard. A toothy babysitter if I’ve ever seen one! (Platalea ajaja) (Sony a1M2, 200-600 lens @ 391mm, 1/4000 second, f/6.3, ISO 640)
Roseate Spoonbill_
The “spoonies” are started to show up and beginning to show their breeding colors. They are one of our flashiest birds and also entertaining to observe. They frequent shallow waters, swishing their bill around until it makes contact with a small fish or other prey, which they deftly manage to quickly toss up and into their gullet. Their rookeries are surrounded by alligator infested water. It’s my thought (biologists feel free to chime in) that although the gators may take an occasion bird, they serve the more important function of keeping furry predators off the rookery where they could wreak havoc. Thus, the gators are both predator and guard. A toothy babysitter if I’ve ever seen one! (Platalea ajaja) (Sony a1M2, 200-600 lens @ 391mm, 1/4000 second, f/6.3, ISO 640)