Spoonbills and Rainbows

Spoonbills hunt using touch rather than sight. They swish their bills in the water, and the sensitive nerves trigger the beak to snap shut when something touches. This lets them hunt is water where visibility is limited or at night when there is less competition for food.

They will also feed in groups, walking in a line across the water to stir up crustaceans for each other.

While almost wiped out for their plumage in the 1800s, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 helped numbers bounce back, but now they face increasing danger from climate change and habitat loss.