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8/01/2017 8:17 am  #1


Roseate spoonbill makes a rare appearance in central Pennsylvania

Roseate spoonbill makes a rare appearance in central Pennsylvania




By Dan Gleiter dgleiter@pennlive.com

For over a week, bird watchers have enjoyed visits from more than one roseate spoonbill along the Susquehanna River and Conodoguinet Creek.

This spoonbill was spotted July 28 while resting along the Conodoguinet Creek in Hampden Township, near Camp Hill, in Cumberland County, Pa.

A spoonbill was seen Saturday, July 15, along the Conejohela Flats section of the Susquehanna River near Washington Borough, Lancaster County.

The last observation of a live spoonbill in Pennsylvania was in 1968 in Erie County, according to state ornithologists.

According to the National Audubon Society, roseate spoonbills forage by wading in shallow muddy water, sweeping their bill from side to side with mandibles slightly open, detecting prey by feel. Sometimes they pick up items that have been found by sight.

Their diet consists mostly of small fish such as minnows and killifish, also shrimp, crayfish, crabs, aquatic insects (especially beetles), mollusks and slugs. They eat some plant material, including roots and stems of sedges.

Roseate spoonbills are common in coastal Florida, Texas, southwest Louisiana and Mexico.

Abc27 news reported earlier this month, "while it is unknown why the spoonbills are in Pennsylvania, birders say it is not uncommon for other southern bird species to make brief visits. The spoonbills are believed to be young birds, considered subadults, and could be the result of an especially successful breeding season, testing the limits of their home range. Additionally, the birds could simply be lost or were driven into the area by some natural or unnatural disturbance in their food source. Ideally, the spoonbills will realize quickly that Pennsylvania waters do not contain an abundance of their preferred diet before they become weak, succumb to cold weather or the shallow waters they frequent freeze."

Last edited by Goose (8/01/2017 8:18 am)


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

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