Rare pink bird spotted for the first time in nearly 180 years

No, this isn’t part of the marketing for “Barbie.”

A rare pink bird called the roseate spoonbill was spotted by a birdwatcher in Green Bay, Wisconsin — the first confirmed sighting of the bird in the state in 178 years, Fox 11 News reported.

“Not many pink birds. It’s either a flamingo or a spoonbill,” Logan Lasee, naturalist and birdwatcher, told the local outlet. “While I was looking out on a mud flat, this bird was actually hanging out with a flock of geese. So I started calling people.”

The roseate spoonbill “looks like it came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book,” with pink feathers, red eyes, a partly bald head and a giant spoon-shaped bill, All About Birds describes.

“This is a really large shorebird, that’s typically seen in the very southern part of the United States, There’s breeding colonies in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. So for one to come up here, it’s very rare. There’s actually only two records now of this bird being in the state and the last one before this was 1845,” Lasee said.

The roseate spoonbill was once very popular in the southeast until the 1860s when they were “virtually eliminated,” according to the National Audobon Society. Now they are uncommon and considered vulnerable due to loss of habitat.

The birdwatcher said that the spoonbill is likely a child, and it’s probable the rare bird ended up in the Midwest due to recent weather events.

“This year, there’s actually been a number of this species kind of blowing around the United States. So it might just be a weird year where they’re being kind of tossed around,” he explained.

“I’ve been on cloud nine for the last couple days. It’s been amazing to see people from all over the state, gathering here to see this bird. It’s been like Christmas,” he said.