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2<<
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
61
Distribution and History of the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) in Arkansas
R. Tumlison
*1
, G. Wills
1
, and K. Rowe
2
1
Department of Biological Sciences, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, AR 71999
2
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, P.O. Box 529, Casscoe, AR 72026
*Correspondence: [email protected]
Running Title: Roseate Spoonbill in Arkansas
Abstract
The Roseatte Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a rare
bird in Arkansas and was not reported from the state
until 1959, when it was seen in southwestern Arkansas.
By use of online sources for citizen science, we
elucidate the history of occurrence and present analysis
of seasonal distribution of this bird in Arkansas.
Individuals arrive in Arkansas as early as April,
observations peak in August, and the birds may remain
to late October when colder weather promotes
southward migration. Most observations are of a few
birds, but a maximum of 128 has been counted at one
location and time. Most of the birds seen had not
developed breeding plumage so were believed to be
younger birds migrating northward in spring and
summer to forage. The birds have been observed in 28
counties, but most observations have been in Chicot
and Desha Cos. of southeastern Arkansas, bordering
the Mississippi River. Several other wading birds such
as storks, herons, egrets, and ibis have been reported as
associates in flight or foraging. Nesting was discovered
for the first time in 2020, in Ashley Co. of southeastern
Arkansas.
Introduction
Populations of the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea
ajaja) apparently declined due to habitat loss and the
millinery trade for plumes. These are wading birds that
use a spatula-shaped bill to forage in shallow water.
Mature birds have a pink body with red on the wings
and part of the tail, and otherwise an almost orange
tail, whereas juveniles are light pinkish (Dumas 2020).
The Roseate Spoonbill breeds along the coasts and
increasingly into the interior of Texas, Louisiana, and
south Florida, but there are no records of breeding in
Alabama or Mississippi (Dumas 2020). The bird has
only a short documented history in Arkansas, as it was
not reported by Howell (1911), Wheeler (1924), or
Baerg (1931, 1951). Further, the species was not
reported in earlier literature from neighboring
Oklahoma (Nice 1931), though it was observed there in
1940, and several more records have been documented
in Oklahoma in more recent years (Shackford 1991).
Still, based on reports in Allen (1942), in which some
Roseate Spoonbills were known to use the Mississippi
Valley to wander as far north as Wisconsin, it seems
plausible that the birds might have passed undetected
through Arkansas.
This bird was first reported in Arkansas in 1959,
from Miller County in southwestern Arkansas (James
and Neal 1986). James (1974) did not include it in a
discussion of threatened native birds of Arkansas
because it had never been considered a breeding bird in
the state. The few reports made by 1985 were from
southwestern Arkansas (Hempstead, Howard, Little
River, and Miller Cos.), with exceptions from Jefferson
County (southeastern Arkansas) in 1973 and Pulaski
County (central Arkansas) in 1985 (James and Neal
1986). Observations in Arkansas and other
southeastern states, farther inland than the distribution
of known breeding grounds, were thought to represent
immatures ranging northward during late summer
(James and Neal 1986; Dumas 2020). Oberholser
(1974) previously had interpreted distributional records
of the Roseate Spoonbill in Texas to indicate dispersal
along watercourses northward and inland after the
breeding season, in late summer and fall.
Methods and Materials
To determine distribution and dates of occurrence,
we compiled records verified by the Arkansas
Audubon Society and published on their website
(http://www.arbirds.org/aas_dbase.html), the citizen
science website hosted by the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology (https://ebird.org/explore), and reports on
the discussion list ARBIRD-L (ARBIRD-
Arkansas. These sources included not only locations
and dates of sightings, but also comments describing
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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
62
habitat, behavior, numbers of birds seen, and their
avian associates.
Data were gathered into a spreadsheet and sorted
various ways to reveal the history and timing of the
presence of this rare bird in Arkansas. Duplicate
accounts of the same observations made by different
observers were deleted prior to analysis, to create a
dataset with unique observations.
Increasing numbers of observations can be
attributed to both an increasing number of birds over
time and to an increasing number of observers making
reports. We followed the method of Whitfield et al.
(2018) to evaluate whether numbers were increasing
over time by plotting the maximum group size reported
at one sighting each year over the years of observation.
We examined the seasonal distribution of Roseate
Spoonbills in North America to interpret whether
reports of the birds in Arkansas seemed to show N-S
migrations, or whether the birds might also migrate E-
W. This was accomplished in eBird (eBird 2021) by
use of the science tab, then application of the tab for
abundance animation. We also used eBird to elucidate
the distribution of breeding Roseate Spoonbills in
North America for comparison with observations of
breeding in Arkansas.
Results and Discussion
Distribution – The first report of a Roseate
Spoonbill in Arkansas was from a swampy lake near
the Red River in southwestern Arkansas (Miller Co.),
observed in the fall (20 September) of 1959 (James and
Neal 1986). The earliest reported date of observation
was in the spring, on 21 April 2010 in northeastern
Arkansas (Poinsett Co.). We report here our new
observation of early arrival, on the first weekend of
April in 2021, in Ashley Co.
Reported locations of Roseate Spoonbills in
Arkansas, including a total of 28 counties, are included
in Fig. 1. As these records are composited from citizen
science, it must be understood that the data do not
represent a systematic survey, and that less accessible
habitats also may support summer residents and
perhaps nesting pairs (Tumlison et al. 2020). Stars on
the map represent records of observations in adjacent
states, which help illustrate that these birds disperse
along rivers and forage in adjacent lowlands.
Observations along the Mississippi River in
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri indicate that
Roseate Spoonbills are likely to be found more
commonly in NE Arkansas than has been reported, and
in the 4 counties without current records in eastern
Arkansas. Patterns of distribution relate to appropriate
wetland habitat, which tends to be found along river
systems in lowland regions of the state (West Gulf
Coastal Plain and Mississippi Alluvial Plain). In
Arkansas, these rivers include the Red, Ouachita,
Arkansas, White, and Mississippi.
Although sightings of Roseate Spoonbills have
occurred in 28 counties (Fig. 1), about 71% of the 287
unique statewide observations occurred in only 4
counties. Most (52.7%) were in the 2 southeastern
counties bordering the Mississippi River (29.7% in
Chicot Co. and 22.9% in Desha Co.). Bald Knob
National Wildlife Refuge (BKNWR) accounted for
almost all of the observations in White Co. (10.8% of
the total statewide observations), and 7.5% of the total
observations were on farms in Lafayette Co. in
southwestern Arkansas.
Sightings of only 1-2 birds occur from the time of
first documented arrival, on 21 April, through 9
October. Those observations account for 44.4% of the
reported sightings. Groups of 3 birds appear by 11
May, 4 by 19 July, and 5+ by 22 July. Groups of 20+
birds appear earliest on 13 August but are most
common in September and October.
Figure 1. Distribution of the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) in
Arkansas (1959-2020) based on literature and records compiled
from citizen science websites. Dots indicate locations of
observation (but multiple observations during the same or different
years are not represented by additional dots). Stars represent
locations reported in eBird for adjacent states. The enlarged dot in
Ashley Co. (southeastern Arkansas) represents the verified
breeding location in Arkansas, and the large dot in Arkansas Co. is
the location of the second likely breeding record.
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Roseate Spoonbill in Arkansas
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
63
Ten or more birds have been documented at one
time in Ashley, Chicot, Desha, Lafayette, Lonoke,
Miller, Monroe, Prairie, Pulaski, and White Counties.
The largest numbers of birds seen simultaneously have
been repeated observations in 2005 and 2010 at Camp
Nine in Desha County (with a maximum of 128 birds
counted on 25 September 2005). Observers have
reported a group of 65 birds at the Mississippi Levee in
Chicot County, and as many as 30 individuals were
seen at BKNWR in White County on 11 September
2017.
Examination of historical distribution shows the
longest term of continued occurrence in the lowlands
of southeastern Arkansas along the Mississippi River,
and in southwestern Arkansas near the Red River
system (Fig. 2). From 1959-1969, the species was
recorded only from Hempstead, Jefferson and Miller
Cos., and during the decade of 1970-1979, the bird was
reported from only Miller and Jefferson Cos. It would
be almost 2 more decades before Roseate Spoonbills
were recorded again from those counties.
From 1980-1989, observations were reported from
a total of 7 counties, all of them new (Chicot, Clark,
Desha, Garland, Howard, Little River, and Pulaski). In
the decade from 1990-1999, again 7 counties were
reported but 4 of these were new (Ashley, Lonoke,
Mississippi, and Union).
Interest in birds and reporting of records increased
after 2000 (Tumlison et al. 2020), but apparently an
Figure 2. Historical distribution of the Roseate Spoonbill in
Arkansas. Unshaded counties have records, and lettering represents
time frames for the records: A = 1959-1969, B = 1970-1979, C =
1980-1989, D = 1990-1999, E = 2000-2009, and F = 2010-2020.
actual influx of Roseate Spoonbills occurred as well.
From 2000-2009, occurrence was reported in 12
counties including the addition of 5 more counties
(Phillips, Prairie, Monroe, White, and Yell). From
2010-2020, observations increased dramatically with
records from 20 counties, including 9 new counties
(Arkansas, Columbia, Crawford, Jackson, Lafayette,
Phillips, Poinsett, Sevier, and Woodruff).
Roseate Spoonbills have been present but are very
uncommon in Arkansas from April through June.
Sparse observations during May (Chicot, Hempstead,
Monroe, and Woodruff Cos.), and June (Chicot, Desha,
Lafayette, and White Cos.) account for only 9 of 287
unique observations (Fig. 3). Of the remaining
available records, 27 (9.7%) occurred in July, 122
(43.7%) in August, 98 (35.1%) in September, and 30
(10.8%) in October. The latest date of observation in
Arkansas was a group of 5 birds seen on 12 November
2005 in Desha Co.
The great increase in August likely includes birds
that nested along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas and
migrated northward to feeding grounds. Chronological
data from eBird showed that populations from southern
Louisiana and southeastern Texas appeared to migrate
N along the Mississippi and Red Rivers, and
populations in Florida moved N into the Florida
panhandle or into Georgia and South Carolina. Few
records occurred in Mississippi and Alabama, and
there was little evidence of E-W migration. As fall
approaches, the birds begin a seasonal migration
southward and are mostly absent from Arkansas by late
October.
Age-identified birds reported from April through
July were immature individuals, therefore hatched in
the previous breeding season, and a few unmated
adults also were noted. The latter include accounts of
Figure 3. Monthly frequency of reported observations of Roseate
Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) in Arkansas, 1959-2020.
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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
64
single birds in Poinsett Co. (21 April), Hempstead Co.
(3 July), and Pulaski Co. (9 July). Spoonbills identified
as adults otherwise do not appear until late July and
have been seen mostly in August and September.
Adults migrating northward after the breeding season
usually are single birds, and have been documented
scattered over several counties, including Ashley,
Chicot, Desha, Hempstead, Jefferson, Lafayette,
Lonoke, Miller, Poinsett, and Pulaski. Eight adults
were seen together in Chicot Co. on 10 August, along
with 57 young birds.
The pattern of monthly occurrence also must be
viewed cautiously, as reports are based on citizen
science and the communicated presence of a rare
species often results in multiple reports of the same
birds over several days or weeks if the birds remain at
the same site. This attribute inflates the numbers of
observations of those birds, although these same data
reflect continued presence over time. Further, the same
individuals may move short distances and thus be
documented at various locations. Strings of sightings
only short distances from each other (e.g., the string of
sightings in Chicot and Desha Cos. in southeastern
Arkansas, see Fig. 1) may sometimes represent the
same individual spoonbills that moved among a variety
of locations.
The general pattern of historic occurrence indicates
that Roseate Spoonbills seen in Arkansas from April-
July represent unmated individuals and juveniles, then
fledged birds and post-nesting adults enter the state
from July-September. These likely are mostly
dispersers from April-August following the breeding
season farther south, an interpretation consistent with
other observers (Oberholser 1974; Dumas 2020). After
northward dispersal and foraging through late summer,
individuals apparently return southward with onset of
colder weather.
The increasing maximum group size of flocks seen
since about the year 2000 (Fig. 4) indicates that more
Roseate Spoonbills are becoming summer migrants
into Arkansas. From 1966 to about 2000, only 1-2
birds were seen together at a time. During the last 20
years, the size of the largest flocks has increased
appreciably (although there is much yearly variation,
with a maximum group of 128 in 2005). This kind of
plot helps reduce the bias of more observers and
greater frequency of reporting through citizen science
portals (Whitfield et al. 2018) and complements the
observation that the birds also are being observed in
more counties in recent years (see Fig. 2).
Associates – Avian species found associated at
Figure 4. Maximum group size of single flocks of Roseate
Spoonbills reported in Arkansas, plotted by year. Increases since
2000 indicate expanding range into Arkansas.
feeding sites help define the nature of a foraging
habitat used by a bird of interest. In Arkansas, reported
feeding associates of the Roseate Spoonbill include
egrets (Chicot, Crawford, Desha, Jefferson, Miller,
Sevier, and White Cos.), herons (Chicot, Desha, and
White Cos.), White Ibis (Chicot Co.), and Wood Storks
(Chicot and Lafayette Cos.). Several times, only the
term “egret” or “heron” was mentioned without species
definition. When the species was listed, egrets included
Cattle, Great, and Snowy, and herons specified only
Great Blue. In May, June, and July 2020, KR observed
those 3 egret species, Great and Little Blue Herons,
and White and White-faced Ibis along with Roseate
Spoonbills at 2 nesting sites in Arkansas and Ashley
Cos.
These species are wading birds that commonly
tend to associate and feed in shallow waters. Unlike
most associated species, Roseate Spoonbills feed in a
characteristic pattern of swinging the spatulate bill
from side to side to intercept small fish, crustaceans,
and aquatic insects (Dumas 2020), which is a pattern
also sometimes seen in White Ibis (Kushlan 1977).
Reproduction – Roseate Spoonbills were not
known to breed successfully in Arkansas until
discovery of nests on 24 May 2020 near Montrose
(Ashley Co., Fig. 1). The species had been reported in
Ashley Co. 28 years earlier - a single individual seen
on 15 July 1992 in Overflow National Wildlife Refuge
(ONWR), located several km southwest of the
Montrose breeding location. Ten years later, Roseate
Spoonbills were again reported at ONWR between 28
July and 31 August, usually with only 1-3 individuals
sighted, until 21 birds were observed on 13 August and
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Roseate Spoonbill in Arkansas
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
65
30 on 20 August 2002. Spoonbills were reported at
ONWR also between 10 August and 9 September in
2011, 2014, and 2018.
All birds for which information was available were
categorized to be in immature or first year plumage,
except for 1 adult observed on 30 July 2002. In
neighboring Chicot Co., numerous observations of the
birds over 33 years (since 1987) reported adults only in
August and September (after the breeding season).
Thus, for the known history of presence in Ashley
Co., there had been evidence only of immature birds
found in the late season, but no breeding pairs in
Ashley Co., or any other part of Arkansas, during the
expected nesting season of April-August known in
Louisiana and Texas (Oberholser1974; Dumas 2020).
On 24 May and 18 June of 2020, a photographer
(Jami Linder) captured images of wetland birds near
Montrose in Ashley Co. of southeastern Arkansas
(Zellers 2020). The site was a wetland within a farming
area near Montrose. The head of the Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission’s nongame migratory bird
program (KR) subsequently identified the species in
the images. Finding Roseate Spoonbills among the
birds, she requested the photographer to try to get
images of nestlings, and filed a report of rare birds on
ARBIRD-L. On 24 May 2020, 2 birds were seen on
nests, and on 18 June, 8 adults were seen. Other
Roseate Spoonbills were carrying nesting material at
the time. Discovery of the new species nesting in
Arkansas was popularized in a state newspaper
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 21 June 2020, p 1A).
Zellers (2020) reported that Linder and Rowe had
spotted about 32 Spoonbills, including 20 adults, 8
young that were still bound to nests, and 4 young that
were learning to fly. Those observations were made on
1 July (KR, pers. obs.).
Some Roseate Spoonbills at the Ashley Co. site
were incubating eggs while others had young almost
ready to fledge. Roseate Spoonbill eggs hatch after 22
days of incubation, and the birds fledge after about 6
weeks of development (White et al. 1982). It is
unknown why the range in the timing of nest building
was spread over several weeks at the Arkansas site. A
couple of hypotheses include the age of the adults
(perhaps first-time nesters breed later than older
adults), or the timing of nesting might have been
related to limited availability of quality nest sites.
The birds left the Ashley Co. nest site during the
third week of August 2020, and in 2021 returned the
first weekend of April (KR, pers. obs.). Current studies
are to locate foraging areas and emergent wetlands
near the breeding site.
Presence of Roseate Spoonbills in breeding
plumage and during the breeding season at another
location in southeastern Arkansas indicates another
likely nesting site (Zellers 2020). Adult Roseate
Spoonbills were observed roosting in trees on the
Hampton Reservoir near Lodge Corner, Arkansas Co.,
on June 3 (KR, pers. obs., see Fig. 1). The landowner
(Rick Hampton) previously had seen these birds on the
reservoir only in late summer. The birds were roosting
at the edge of the reservoir, but sites with likely nests
were completely inaccessible by boat or foot and use of
a spotting scope did not allow conclusive examination
of the presumed nesting site. At least 2 nests were
suspected in young cypress and buttonbush.
A breeding abundance map for Roseate Spoonbills
generated in eBird showed a northward extension
along the Mississippi valley, about two-thirds up the
state of Louisiana. Thus, new records of nesting in
Arkansas would be expected along the Mississippi, but
the new breeding records we report are considerably
extralimital to the historically known breeding range.
Management and Conservation – The property
that supported the nesting birds in Ashley Co. is
managed through the WRP as waterfowl habitat,
located within a farming region used primarily for rice
and soybean row crops. Other wetland birds associated
with the Roseate Spoonbills at the nest site included
Anhinga, Cattle and Snowy Egrets, Little Blue and
Great Blue Herons, Yellow-crowned and Black-
crowned Night Herons, Least Bitterns, White-faced
Ibis, and Common Gallinules (Zellers 2020). Some of
these birds also were breeding at the site.
Roseate Spoonbills forage in emergent wetlands
with water depths up to 20 cm (Powell 1987), but
depths of about 12 cm or less are preferred (Lewis
1983), likely because depths below 13 cm are linked to
higher nest production rates (Lorenz 2014). Nests in
inland forested swamps have been reported in small
trees and shrubs such as buttonbush (Cephalanthus
occidentalis), and under the canopy of hardwood trees
such as water oak (Quercus nigra) and elms (Ulmus
sp.) (Dumas 2020). Linder’s photos of the Ashley Co.
nests in Zellers (2020), and posted by the Arkansas
Democrat Gazette newspaper
https://www.arkansasonline.com/galleries/29987/album/
showed some of the stick nests in lower branches of
bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) trees just above the
level of buttonbush, and the observers also mentioned
nests constructed on the buttonbush. Buttonbush may
reach a height of about 5m (16 ft.) (Ogle et al. 2020).
Management favoring early successional hemi-
65
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75 [2021], Art. 13
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R. Tumlison, G. Wills, and K. Rowe
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75, 2021
66
marsh wetlands (such as the Wetland Reserve
Program, WRP) in southeastern, and perhaps
southwestern, Arkansas could aid in improving
foraging habitat for Roseate Spoonbills. More mature
WRP wetlands with established bottomland hardwood
tree species could create additional breeding habitat for
Roseate Spoonbills (Zellers 2020). This bird is not an
historic breeder in Arkansas, but its seasonal natural
presence is an attractor for bird enthusiasts, and
therefore is also of economic value to the state.
Furthermore, several species of wading birds that
associate with Roseate Spoonbills benefit from the
same management strategies. Restoration of such
wetlands also is important for soil hydrology.
Acknowledgments
We thank the many bird enthusiasts who
systematically collect and report observations of birds,
Jami Linder who took the first photographs of Roseate
Spoonbills nesting in Arkansas, and the anonymous
landowner whose interest in avian conservation created
the habitat in which the birds nested. We thank Dan
Scheiman for his efforts in updating the eBird data
base for Arkansas birds, which made this project much
easier to conduct. Rick Hampton provided access for
viewing Hampton Reservoir, which provided evidence
of a second likely nesting site for these birds in
Arkansas.
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Baerg WJ. 1931. Birds of Arkansas. University of
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Baerg WJ. 1951. Birds of Arkansas. University of
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(Fayetteville, AR) Bulletin No. 258 (rev.). 188 p.
Dumas JV. 2020. Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja),
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of the world. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, (Ithaca,
NY). Available from: https://doi.org/10.2173/
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Howell AH. 1911. Birds of Arkansas. U.S. Department
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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 75 [2021], Art. 13
https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol75/iss1/13
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54119/jaas.2021.7514
