Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Roseate Spoonbill FAMILY - Threskiornithidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Ajaia ajaja SYNONYMS - Platalea ajaja Linnaeus 1758 REFERENCES - 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Resident, species present all year. 25 Resident, species present all year. 3 Apparently secure in Belize 24 Rare: low density, unlikely to be seen, few localities 24 Vulnerable in Belize 5 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 21 District Reference Belize 4 Corozal 10 Orange Walk 9 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Shipstern Nature Reserve Sighting Wet season 10 Shipstern Nature Reserve 19 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 16 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary 14 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve Sighting Dry season 7 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve 9 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) 8 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 23 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 11 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 18 Private land, see comments Dry season 17 Private land, see comments Permanent 12 Private land, see comments 13 Private land, see comments 15 Cayes, other; see comments 5 Caye Caulker Sighting Dry season 6 Hydrologic Association Reference Sibun River 13 Mussel Creek 8 New River 9 Belize River 17 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 22 1-200 m 23 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 9 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 22 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 4 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 17 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 23 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 5 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 7 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 18 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 7 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 10 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 19 16 00' to 16 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 13 17 52'35" to 18 11'30"; 87 49' to 88 03' 5 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 16 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 11 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Subtropical moist 23 Subtropical moist 22 Subtropical moist 19 General Distribution Comments 25* Uncommon northern semideciduous moist forest. Uncommon coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Uncommon mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 18* Belize City Oil Terminal 17* Big Falls 13* Punta Gorda 12* St. John's 11* Gold Button Ranch; large flocks with Wood Storks 5* Following cayes - Rosario, Pajaro, Shipstern, Sal, S. Salmez (?), Tostada 3* Permanent resident, rare northern hardwood forests and cayes including Ambergris Cay; uncommon coastal savannas, mangroves and beaches along the coast of the mainland. References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 5 McRae, E., 1994. The Birds of Belize's Coastal Zone: Species, Distribution, Current Status, Threats to their Well-being, and Potential Measures to Reduce their Impact. Report to NPAMP. 6 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 7 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 8 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 9 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 10 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 11 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 12 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 13 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 14 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 15 Miller, B. W., C. M. Miller. 1992. Distributional Notes and New Species Records in Belize. Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 1(2):6-25. 16 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 17 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 18 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 19 Quigley, H. B., B. W. Miller, C. M. Miller. 1995. Mammal Survey, Shipstern Nature Reserve, April 4-13, 1995. Unpublished report for ITCF. 20 Howell, S. N. G., S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York. Oxford University Press. 21 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 22 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 23 Hinshaw, J. 1997. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology bird holdings through Jun. 1, 1997. 24 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 25 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98