Platalea ajaja
Status: Rare casual summer visitor south-central and southeast.
Documentation: Description: 16 Sep 1884, Lincoln, Lancaster Co (Swenk 1932, Bray et al 1986).
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
Formerly placed in the monotypic genus Ajaia, the latter now merged with Platalea (Banks et al 2002).
Summer: There are four accepted records. The 1932 Buffalo Co specimen (below) was at one time in the Brooking collection (Brooking 1942) but cannot now be located (Bray et al 1986).
5 Jun 1932 Buffalo Co (Swenk 1932, Bray et al 1986)
5 and 14 Aug 1997 juvenile Otoe Co (Dinsmore 1999, Brogie 1998)
20 Aug 1966 two near Hastings, Adams Co (Maunder 1966)
16 Sep 1884 Lancaster Co (Lincoln Daily News, Swenk 1932, Bray et al 1986).
Comments: Individuals occasionally wander north in the interior during the summer months; vagrant records are generally located in the southern and eastern US, with northwesternmost records for Sep in Colorado, Jun and Aug-Sep for Nebraska, Jul-Sep for Iowa, and Aug for Minnesota (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023).
Literature Cited
Banks, R.C., C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.A. Rising, and D.F. Stotz. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union check-list of North American birds. Auk 119: 897-906.
Bray, T.E., B.K. Padelford, and W.R. Silcock. 1986. The birds of Nebraska: A critically evaluated list. Published by the authors, Bellevue, Nebraska, USA.
Brogie, M.A. 1998. 1997 (Ninth) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 66: 147-159.
Brooking, A.M. 1942. A record of the Roseate Spoonbill for Nebraska. NBR 10: 52.
Dinsmore, S.J. 1999. Roseate Spoonbill in Otoe County. NBR 67: 80-81.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Maunder, V. 1966. Roseate Spoonbill. NBR 34: 77.
Swenk, M.H. 1932. Letters of Information 66: 12.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2023. Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 23 Oct 2023