Page 5 - PGA Community News- November '23

November 2023 November 2023 PGA C.A.N.!, Page 5
Northern Notes

Roseate Spoonbill – Nature’s spoonbills have unique outdoors again! Find a park or preserve and see if you
Take advantage of the cooler weather and explore the
Up close, roseate
(Other) Brilliant Pink Bird coloring on their heads. can spot a bowl of roseate spoonbills. Enjoy!
While young, they have NPDES tip: Storms occur all year round. Make sure your
By Katie Roundtree, light-colored feathers yards and trees are trimmed neatly to avoid flying debris
Director of Finance and covering their heads and during a storm. Dispose of your trimmings and clippings
Administration, Northern light pink plumage. As properly. Do not put them into storm drains or lakes!
Palm Beach County they age, the feathers
Improvement District on their head thin out,
Roseate spoonbills with only the blue-green Reminder From
are striking pink birds to yellow-green head
that inhabit our marshes showing, and their plumage gets darker. Their reddish eyes
and preserves in South are in stark contrast to their head coloring, making them quite Palm Beach Gardens
Florida. They are shorter a unique specimen. You can estimate the age of a roseate
and smaller than the more spoonbill then by determining if they have feathers on their Police Department
infamous flamingo, but head and by how vibrant their feathers are.
their plumage is just as striking and easy to spot from afar. We are fortunate to see them still since they were Adopt These Habits To
While they may be small in stature, they have a wingspan hunted almost to extinction in the late 1800s for their
that is almost twice as wide as they are tall. gorgeous plumage used to decorate hats and fans. Prevent Vehicle Burglaries
Roseate spoonbills are highly social. They feed with Thankfully, they received legal protection in the 1940s,
each other and with other wading birds. They also nest and their population has recovered. • Please lock your vehicle doors every
in colonies and fly in flocks. They are found with other Roseate spoonbills are the only spoonbill species time – even for a quick stop or at home.
spoonbills in a group called appropriately a “bowl.” native to the United States. Other species are found in • Never leave items of any kind inside
But what makes them pink? Spoonbills feed on small Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. However, no other
fish, insects and crustaceans (invertebrates). Crustaceans spoonbill species has the distinctive pink coloring as the your vehicle. Hiding items doesn’t work!
are packed with carotenoids, fat-soluble pigments that roseate spoonbill. • At a minimum, if you must leave
constitute reds, oranges, and yellows. Invertebrates items, place them in your trunk.
compile these pigments by eating aquatic vegetation, • Cell phone/iPod power cords, GPS
which uses beta-carotenoids to conduct photosynthesis. holders and other key sets act as neon
Then, as spoonbills eat these crustaceans, they ingest signs.
their stockpiled carotenoids. As the birds digest their
prey, these pigments are transferred into fat stores under • Park in well-lit areas, stay alert
the skin. These reserves feed into the feathers, primarily and call in any suspicious activities to
along the bird’s back, wings and rump. the police department nonemergency
As to their distinctive beak, spoonbills develop a number: 799-4445.
flat, spoon-shaped bill shortly after hatching. Spoonbill
hatchlings have a straight beak for the first few days of
their life. The spoon shape grows as the chick develops.
Spoonbills forage by sweeping their open bills back and
forth under the water (think of a metal detector). Their
4
bills have nerves that can feel when prey enters their bill
and triggers it to shut when it comes in contact with food.
It’s a very efficient way to forage.

HEART AND VASCULAR INSTITUTE

From performing Palm Beach
County’s first open heart surgery
40 years ago, to now being ranked
in the nation’s top 10% for cardiac
surgery, Palm Beach Gardens Medical
Center continues our mission to offer
advanced, comprehensive heart care
to our community.

OUR SERVICES Cardiac catheterization • Cardiac
rehabilitation • Dedicated Cardiovascular Nurse Navigator
Electrophysiology • Minimally invasive surgery and
procedures • Structural heart program • Valve Clinic
Vascular surgery
Years of

Performing Scan the QR code or call

877.346.1842 to speak to
our nurse navigator.
Open Heart

Surgery

and beating stronger Your Community Hospital

every day. 3360 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens