Interview With a Roseate Spoonbill
I caught up with a very thoughtful and eloquent Roseate Spoonbill last month in Wellington, Florida. He had some interesting things to say.
It’s indeed a good day when you happen upon a Roseate Spoonbill, with their stunning pink plumage, searching for food in the shallow wetlands of Florida. Just ask any nature photographer. Spotting a spoonbill is a dazzling sight to behold, particularly because it’s becoming more rare to find them in these southern parts of the Sunshine State. Fluctuating water levels, habitat loss and overdevelopment are driving this trend.
In Wellington, Florida, for example, and areas of Loxahatchee and Royal Palm Beach, the dizzying push for commercial and residential development has left many residents in the area both stumped and frustrated. And yet, there are those (mostly developers and elected leaders) that believe more shopping plazas, more restaurants, and more apartment complexes are what will make this region great. But with so much building happening all at once, and so little green space left, what are the implications for wildlife and human population density? And do these developers and elected leaders have a vision—a long term vision—for the area other than concrete structures?
These are just some of the questions raised by the sudden onslaught of development. There’s no one better to answer them than a local Roseate Spoonbill. As luck would have it, I met a spoonbill on a recent afternoon, wading ever so diligently, inside a small pond near the Wellington Library.
What follows is a condensed version of our conversation and a few photographs of this beautiful pink bird.
Lara Chapman: Could you please describe your desired habitat and current environment?
Roseate Spoonbill: Of course. My preferred habitat areas include coastal and wetland areas anywhere in South America, coastal areas of Central America, the Caribbean, and along the Gulf of Mexico**. I love to nest in mixed colonies within mangrove islands or even in the Florida Everglades. Occasionally, you’ll find me in manmade canals or smaller ponds searching for crayfish, shrimp, crabs, and small fish. In fact, the pink you see in my feathers comes from what I eat, similar to flamingos.
I need water, that much is obvious. But I need specific bodies of water that are shallow and low-lying. This is so I can forage for food and probe along the bottom of muddy water, feeling for fish, amphibians, and others to eat. I have quite the beak, if you hadn’t noticed. Almost prehistoric looking. But when the water levels are just right, my wide, flat bill can snap up more prey in each scoop than birds with pointed bills can.
As for my current environment, well, it’s nothing to boast about. At least not anymore. It is loud with cars and horns and work trucks with great big metal cranes attached. The roads are severely congested and there seems to be a motor vehicle accident every hour and what humans call a “hit and run” once or more per week.
A few years ago, this area of the world seemed to experience some sort of overnight exponential growth. I’m not quite sure what happened as I am just a bird. But it was something to behold, indeed. Human beings coming from all over, some wearing masks, then dumping their masks on the side of the road or even where I fish. It was absolutely dreadful. I’m glad that is over.
Lara Chapman: Could you tell us more about the congestion? What kind of impact is that having on you and others you may know?
Roseate Spoonbill: Sure. This part of Florida, what humans call the ‘Western Communities’ of Palm Beach County is nearly as far west as you can go until you find yourself in the Everglades. According to stories passed down from my avian ancestors, humans tried to drain the Everglades in a completely unnatural and bizarre attempt to build more agricultural areas. They, of course, learned the hard way that this cannot be achieved, but in the process, greatly damaged the grasslands and the wetlands. There was absolutely no long term vision and everyone paid a steep price.
Fortunately, human efforts to restore the Everglades have been surprisingly successful, to which many birds like myself and other native animals are grateful. But human beings continue to build on nearly every square inch of solid land they can find, which includes this region. Just look around for a moment. By examining the geographical variations in population distribution, density, and growth, human beings here seem to be exceeding the capacity of the environment, most particularly when it comes to available shelter, or what human beings call “homes.”

As far as the impacts on me, well, I’ll probably just end up leaving like many other birds I know. You don’t see too many of us anymore, do you? Great Blue Herons, egrets, wood storks—wading birds like myself— we’ll just move on to better foraging environments with more space. So that’s the tradeoff: more shelter, eating places and shopping stores for the humans but less natural spaces and less birds.
Lara Chapman: Thank you for all the insight, I do appreciate it. You mentioned something about ‘long term vision’ and I wanted to know if you could expand more on that?
Roseate Spoonbill: Ah, yes, long term vision. A novel concept, don’t you think. But humans, time and again, seem to overestimate what they will achieve, when in fact, no one can possibly predict the future. And the vision here, in this part of the world, is to build out and then build up. Rarely is it ever to preserve, conserve or align with the natural world. As a bird, it’s quite unfathomable. But, alas, I would be foolish to claim moral superiority on the matter.
Human beings need shelter. You need places to eat and get food and you need places to shop. That is how you live. Though I do find it quite odd that you will build one big concrete structure, then desert that concrete structure, so that you can build another concrete structure—right across the street from each other. It is odd, even you humans must admit that.
Lara Chapman: Yes, indeed, you make an excellent point. Thank you for your time.
Roseate Spoonbill: Thank you!

**As of January 24, 2025, the Gulf of Mexico is now the Gulf of America.