In summer 2021, the birding community in Michigan and nearby states were delighted to view a Roseate Spoonbill in southeast Michigan.
I know, I was one of them!
The pink wading bird seen in Saline, Michigan for several days in July 2021 was a first state record.
And two years later, another Roseate Spoonbill has turned up in southeast Michigan.
This time, the bird found its way to a small park in Jackson, Michigan where I joined a half-dozen other birders yesterday for closeup views of a bird not more than 30 feet away.
Like the bird seen two years ago, the Roseate Spoonbill in Jackson is a vagrant , a bird found outside of their typical range. (Check out the Roseate Spoonbill range map; it’s usually found in southeast United States and South America.)
It appears to be a juvenile bird, similar to the bird seen in Michigan in 2021. Note the pale pink color and feathered head.
Adult Roseate Spoonbills are almost entirely pink, with scarlet wing patches, and a bare pale-green head.
Our Roseate Spoonbill in Michigan isn’t the only Spoonbill found outside its normal range this summer.
In June 2023, folks in Virginia also reported a Roseate Spoonbill, with a tropical traveler turning heads in Ivy.
And a Roseate Spoonbill has been reported for several weeks at Hunting Creek Bridge in Virginia near the Potomac River.
