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Poor babies. 
...and the vast majority of their population has always seemed to live in south america, not north america:
it sounds like the reason you aren't seeing them in their old haunts is because climate change is driving them farther inland and north. i follow some birders on twitter and the last few years i've been seeing photos of spoonbills and other southern birds (like whisting ducks) from people in NY and other northeastern states. they're even breeding much farther north than they used to.
here's an article that talks about a lot of this:
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/winter-2022/the-flight-spoonbills-holds-lessons-changing
from the article:
"As sea-level rise transforms South Florida’s fringe of wetlands into open ocean, Roseate Spoonbills are moving north. Land managers are following their lead, restoring the ecosystem with an eye for resilience, too."
^^^ i don't know that any of that is applicable to DFW area but it explains what's going on in FL. in fact, central TX isn't on the historical range map, so rising salt water levels around coastal TX and LA over the last 20 or 30 years might explain why they are there now.
and there is also this:
"The shift extends beyond Florida. In recent years birders have spotted spoonbills exploring as far north as Minnesota, Maine, and Quebec. And adults are successfully breeding in states they’ve never nested in before, like Georgia, Arkansas, and, in 2020, South Carolina. “They have the potential to do well here,” says South Carolina Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Christy Hand, who observed the world’s northernmost Roseate Spoonbill nest."
so, while anything due to climate change is usually not great news, it seems that at least for now, the population isn't in decline and is possibly increasing.
Really superb photo.
The wings are astonishing, both in their sweep and motion, as well as in color!
Thank you for sharing!
