Roseate Spoonbill, Feeding

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The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Gulf Coast of the United States, and from central Florida's Atlantic coast at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Myrtle Beach. These colorful birds feed while walking in shallow water with their bills submerged and swinging their heads from side to side. When they sense a food item they grab it, whisking it out of the water to quickly swallow it. In this case it was a miss and the bird only caught some water.