The seldom-seen roseate spoonbill, typically a resident of the southern United States, brought joy to birdwatchers as it made a rare appearance near Green Bay.
Pink has painted Wisconsin with surprise, but not in the way you’d expect from a Barbie movie.
In the waning days of July, a vigilant bird enthusiast near Green Bay, Wisconsin, stumbled upon a rare spectacle—an astonishingly pink bird, identified as a roseate spoonbill. This breathtaking sighting marks the first confirmed appearance of this species in the midwestern state in an astounding 178 years, according to a report by Fox 11 News.
Adorned in a brilliant pink plumage and flaunting a distinctive flat beak, the roseate spoonbill was once a familiar sight in the southeastern U.S. Now, classified as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss, this bird’s return to Wisconsin is a momentous event, as noted by the National Audubon Society.
The herald of this avian rarity was Logan Lasee, who, during a volunteer shift dedicated to monitoring piping plovers—an endangered shorebird—spotted the flicker of bright pink in the corner of his eye while driving, recounted by Smithsonian Magazine. This unique and unexpected visitation adds a vivid stroke to Wisconsin’s natural canvas.
As I gazed over the mudflat, this bird wasn’t following the script – it was casually chilling with a gaggle of geese,” Laser shared with Fox 11 News in a video interview. “So, naturally, I started making calls.”
While Laser had crossed paths with a roseate spoonbill before, the Green Bay area hadn’t been on the itinerary.
“Picture this: a pretty big shorebird that’s usually sipping sweet tea in the southern United States,” he chuckled. “You find their VIP lounges in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Now, for one to take a detour up here, that’s like a cosmic event.”
The roseate spoonbill’s last cameo in Wisconsin was a showstopper in 1845, as reported by Green Bay Press-Gazette. Laser, reveling in the role of ushering this flamboyant feathered star back to the Badger State, admitted, “I’ve been on cloud nine for days. Almost every day, I check just to make sure it’s still playing the encore.”
As for the encore’s motivation after a 175-year hiatus, it’s a meteorological mystery, according to Laser.
“These birds have been on a bit of a road trip around the United States lately. It’s like they’re catching a breeze in a strange year,” he mused with Fox 11 News.
The birdwatcher community, sharing their roseate spoonbill escapades in Wisconsin, has migrated to Twitter (now known as X).
“Today was straight out of a storybook!” Dexter Patterson (Wisco Birder) penned on X, accompanied by snapshots of the elusive visitor. “A rare VIP in the Badger State! Images artfully cropped to savor this legendary encounter.