Is That A Flamingo?

Roseate spoonbill -  Platalea ajaja

 Is that a Flamingo you are taking pictures of? That is a question I hear on a regular basis every time I visit the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida. What makes Ding Darling NWR such a great place is that it is a drive through wildlife park, and this allows many people to drive up and be very close to the many species of birds that are found in the refuge.  With Sanibel Island being a prime vacation spot, you have quite a few visitors to the refuge that might otherwise not be inclined to visit a wildlife refuge. With a polite smile and a suppressed laugh I say "No, those are Roseate Spoonbills". While many species of the birds have grown accustom to the human presence, Spoonbills are much more leery and tend to stay farther away. So I and many other photographers need to use some pretty big lenses on our cameras to bring them in close. This attracts attention and brings out the questions when they see the pink plumage. So for someone that is not familiar with birds, they assume the birds are Flamingos.

Spoonbill at Ding Darling NWR

 

Once you identify the birds as spoonbills, you can usually count on numerous followup questions. While I am at times amazed at some peoples total lack of knowledge, I do enjoy helping people out and giving them some useful information.  When you tell people that Flamingos are not really native to the U.S. they don't want to believe you. They just assume that since they have seen millions of the plastic ones in residential yards, they actually are native residents here.

Captive Caribbean Flamingos in a preserve

When you look at the birds plumage you can see how people can make the assumption that they are Flamingos. But that is where the similarity ends. One look at their overall body structure and beaks makes identification easy. In my recent trip Ding Darling NWR I spent five days there photographing birds. I was asked at least a dozen times. "Are those Flamingos?" While I was photographing birds one morning I was talking to one of the numerous volunteers who help assist people with information and show them birds through spotting scopes. I asked him how many times he is asked about the Flamingos. He laughed and said at least 10 times a day.

Caribbean Flamingo

Roseate Spoonbill

Both Species are beautiful birds in there own uniques way. Many species of birds look very similar, and many times it takes an expert to make an identification. But in this case, even I know the difference between a Spoonbill and a Flamingo.

Photos of the Day

Had a late night with a photography club meeting over in St. Louis, so this one will be a short version due to lack of sleep. I love exotic and colorful birds.  The colors, patterns, and intricate detail in the plumage is just amazing. I love in to get in close to capture and show the detail. The bird on the right here is a Rainbow Lorikeet. Trichoglossus haematodus is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia (Maluku and Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. They are not large birds, with a Rainbow Lorikeet's length being about 11-12 inches in size, and have a wingspan of about 6-7 inches.  This was taken at the St. Louis Zoo where they have an open flight cage full of them in the children's zoo. The bird below on the left is a Thick-billed Parrot. One of only two species of parrot that once inhabited the United States (the other is the Carolina parakeet, which is unfortunately extinct). They are bright green in color with a large black bill and red crown, shoulders and thighs. It can grow to about 15 inches in length. It is on the endangered species list at this time. This bird was photographed at the World Bird Sanctuary, Valley Park, Missouri.

One of my favorite exotic bird photos is this shot of two Caribbean Flamingos in a rain shower. I shot this at a tourist attraction down in South Florida while I was trying to find something to do to get out of the rain.
Caribbean Flamingos, Phoenicopterus ruber, are the only flamingo to naturally inhabit North America. They stand about 3.9 - 4.6 ft in height, they have a wingspan of approximately 5.0 ft. and they weigh between 5 - 6.5 lbs. They are deep pink/red/orange in colour and they have the brightest plumage of all six flamingo species.

Now how do you find a Tufted Puffin, Fratercula cirrhata, in the mid-west? Why you go to the Penguin and Puffin House at the St. Louis Zoo. A great attraction to see several species of  both Penguins and Puffins. It is pretty dark in the attraction but I caught this guy under a light and was using my 70-200mm lens with the built in image stabilization. Shot hand held and it is slightly soft, but I love the pose and light on him.