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A Splash of Pink

Two roseate spoonbills stand at the edge of a pond. The birds are pink, with distinctive long, spoon-shaped bills and thin legs. The male (right) has a bright slash of red coloring above its wing. The water is gray and bordered by reed-like plants.
NASA

A pair of roseate spoonbills add a pop of color to this image taken Sept. 13, 2005, in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, northwest of Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Spoonbills like this female (left) and male duo inhabit areas of mangrove such as on the coasts of southern Florida and Texas. These birds feed on shrimps and fish in the shallow water, sweeping their bills from side to side.

This and other wildlife abound throughout Kennedy as it shares a boundary with the Wildlife Refuge, home to some of the nation’s rarest and most unusual species of wildlife. The wildlife refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles.

Image Credit: NASA