Movement of Marked Roseate Spoonbills in Florida with a Review of Present Distribution

At the time of Robert P. Allen's classic study of the species (Allen 1942), the known breeding population of roseate spoonbills (Ajaia ajaja ) in Florida numbered fewer than 30 pairs and little could be determined concerning movement of juveniles fledged in Florida. As of the 1978-1979 nesting season, the breeding population of the Florida Bay-southern mainland region of Everglades National Park had increased to approximately 1400 pairs (this study) and color-marking for study of movement and population biology was judged to be an acceptable risk. Here the authors report on movement of marked roseate spoonbills, wear of patagial markers, and changes in the distribution and seasonal occurrence of the species in Florida and the southeastern United States that have become evident since the subject was last reviewed (Palmer 1962).