Stats

Lifespan: 16-20 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Coastal wetland
Range: Southeastern North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Flight
Status: Common

About

A stark-white wading bird with a long, decurved coral-pink bill and matching pink legs, common around wetlands and lawns across the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean. Its diet of red crustaceans like crayfish tints its bill, legs, and even a bit of its plumage pink over time.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2.
hatchling
A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Eudocimus
Species: Eudocimus albus