Floridabirds

Royal Tern

The Royal Tern, a striking seabird of warm coastal waters, stands out with its bright tangerine bill and distinctive black crest, which fades to a white forehead by late summer. These elegant birds can be seen gliding slowly over shorelines, scanning for small fish they catch with a quick, precise dive. They are highly social, found on undisturbed beaches and saltwater coasts, gathering in colonies and between fishing outings. The Royal Tern’s sharp “ka-rreet!” call is a familiar sound for seashore visitors and a helpful way to spot them.

Their North American populations have remained stable, though declines have been noted in Florida.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Western Cattle Egret

The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a small, white heron native to Africa. This bird is known for its symbiotic relationship with large grazing animals, most commonly cattle, from which it gets its name.

Cattle egrets are distinctive due to their short necks and sturdy build compared to other egrets. Adults are predominantly white with yellow bills and legs, though, during the breeding season, they develop buff-colored plumage on their heads, necks, and backs. They typically stand 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 inches) tall with a wingspan of around 88 to 96 cm (35 to 38 inches).

Cattle egrets are often seen following grazing animals and farm equipment. Some may stand on top of a cow or horse. They are insectivorous birds, feeding on insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, flies, and other small creatures stirred up by the movement of these animals and machines. They occasionally consume frogs, birds, small mammals, and other prey when available.

Cattle egrets typically breed in colonies, often alongside other heron species. They construct their nests near water on top of the outer branches of shrubs or trees. The nests are made from sticks and other plant material, and the female lays 3 to 5 pale blue or green eggs. Both parents participate in incubating the eggs and feeding the young.

The cattle egret’s symbiotic relationship with grazing animals makes it a unique ecosystem species. By feeding on insects and pests, it helps reduce parasitic loads on livestock and promotes healthier grazing environments.

Mottled Duck

The Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula) is a distinctive species of waterfowl native to the southeastern United States, with a significant population in Florida. Known for its unique plumage and habitat preferences, the Mottled Duck plays a crucial role in the local ecosystem and offers valuable insights into wetland conservation.

The Mottled Duck is a medium-sized dabbling duck similar in appearance to the Mallard but with some notable differences. Both males and females have a mottled brown appearance, which provides excellent camouflage in their wetland habitats. Males have a yellowish bill, while females have an orange to brownish bill with dark splotches. Mottled Ducks typically range from 19 to 22 inches long with a wingspan of approximately 33 to 36 inches.

In Florida, Mottled Ducks are commonly found in freshwater and brackish wetlands, including marshes, swamps, and coastal estuaries. They are non-migratory, meaning they reside in these habitats year-round. Their range extends from the Florida peninsula westward to eastern Texas, but the highest population density is in Florida.

Mottled Ducks have a varied diet consisting of aquatic plants such as seeds, stems, and roots of various aquatic vegetation, invertebrates including insects, snails, and small crustaceans, and grains including foraging on waste grain from rice and other crops.

Breeding season for Mottled Ducks in Florida typically begins in early spring. Nests are usually built on the ground in dense vegetation near water. Females construct nests using grasses, reeds, and down feathers. Females lay an average of 8 to 12 eggs per clutch. Incubation lasts about 24 to 28 days, primarily undertaken by the female. After hatching, ducklings are precocial, meaning they are relatively mature and mobile. They follow the mother to water shortly after birth and begin foraging on their own within days.

The Mottled Duck is currently listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Still, ongoing conservation efforts are being made to monitor and protect its populations. Threats to its habitat include wetland drainage, pollution, and hybridization with feral Mallards, which can dilute the species’ genetic integrity.

Mottled Ducks contribute to the health of wetland ecosystems through seed dispersal, pest control of invertebrates and insects, and as prey for various predators, thus playing a crucial role in the food web.

Photo Credit: David Gale

Mourning Dove

Have you ever been captivated by a bird’s low, sorrowful cry in the early morning? That’s the unique call of the Mourning Dove, a small, simple yet beautiful bird that’s a common sight in America, particularly in Florida. Known for its surprisingly gentle, lamenting coo and the whistling of its wings when startled, the Mourning Dove is a fascinating creature to discover.

The mourning dove’s plumage is a rusty grey with white undertones and black spots on its short wings and pointed tail. It has a small beak designed to collect seeds they can store in their specialized esophagus called the crop. In fact, the mourning dove has evolved to drink brackish water without the effects of dehydration, allowing the bird to live in deserts and ocean coasts alike.

Birdwatchers can attract the mourning dove by planting low shrubs to protect

them as they forage; however, they will usually only nest in the safety of tall trees. This dove species is also the most abundant game bird in North America, with hunters taking home roughly 20 million a year. Despite this, the mourning dove is a common and wonderful sight.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Red-breasted Merganser

This unusual-looking duck is called the Red-breasted Merganser, and it only visits Florida during the winter. While this bird usually breeds in the northern coastal regions of Canada, this diving duck flies as far as our home state and Mexico across the Gulf.

In Florida, they make their home in brackish or saltwater sources such as estuaries, bays, lakes, and rivers.

The Red-breasted Merganser is easily identifiable from its fluffy crest, which both males and females have. Breeding males tend to have more color and brighter patterning with black and white plumage, brown-spotted breast, and bright white collar. Though the females are duller brown and gray, both sexes sport red eyes and beaks. Sexually immature males will appear more like females until they reach adulthood at about 2 years of age. The red beak is not just for looks; the bill is serrated and used to catch fish.

The Red-breasted Merganser dives from the surface to catch its prey. To support its energy usage, it must catch roughly 20 fish per day. This duck must dive over 250 times daily to catch enough fish to survive. The Red-breasted Merganser is not only a beautiful duck but a busy one.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Author: Sarina Pennington, IOF Volunteer

Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher can be found year-round in Florida’s scrub. This shy bird is smaller than its western counterparts but sports the same brown plumage and spotted belly. It has striking yellow eyes and a long, curved beak.

The Brown Thrasher prefers to keep among the shrubs and rifle through the leaf-litter and berry bushes below; because of this, they are often hard to spot. Despite this, they are fierce protectors of their nest, known for diving at people who unknowingly get too close. The best time to spot this bird is during the warmer months when the males perch higher to sing and attract a mate. Their songs are actually a mishmash of other birds’ calls.

Similar to mockingbirds, the Brown Thrasher steals snippets of songs from various birds and can even imitate their calls.

The Brown Thrasher has over 1,100 song types, so even if you can’t see the bird, you can listen for its call!

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo, Lynn Marie

Author: Sarina Pennington, IOF Volunteer.

Black Crowned Night Heron

The Black Crowned Night Heron is a unique species of waterbird that can be found anywhere near Florida’s fresh or saltwater sources. Standing around two feet tall with a wingspan of about 46 inches, the Black Crowned Night Heron sports a white belly, pale gray wings, red eyes, blue-black head and back, and two white head plumes falling over its back. They are best known for their stocky silhouette and comical lack of neck. Their calls can primarily be heard at night and sound like short, winded whoops.

The Black Crowned Night Heron is aptly named for its nocturnal habits, spending its nights hunting small aquatic animals like fish, mollusks, and the occasional seabird. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat a variety of what is available to them now, even carrion and plant matter. Despite this, they roost colonially in trees with other Black Crowned Night Herons or birds of different species, such as egrets and ibises.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author Sarina Pennington, IOF volunteer

Belted Kingfisher

Belted kingfishers are year-round native Floridians and are most commonly found around sources of water, which they rely upon for survival. The belted kingfisher has a powder blue plumage, white belly, and shaggy crest. The females sport a rust-colored belly band for which the species is named, but the differences stop there. Both males and females have a large, pointed beak for fishing.

Belted kingfishers stalk lakes, rivers, and estuaries, looking for small fish to catch. They will fly up and down waterways searching for food or dive headlong from a perch. Belted kingfishers are one of the few bird species capable of hovering in one spot before diving. They use their dagger-like beaks to strike the water and their prey.

Belted kingfishers are known to nest in most climates but migrate south during the winter, where their waterways will stay unfrozen and, therefore, a viable food source. During the breeding season, they burrow upward into muddy banks so that rain cannot penetrate and line the nest with fish bones, scales, and various prey animal remains for added insulation. Keep an eye on the skies above your local water sources for a glimpse of the belted kingfisher.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Sarina Pennington, IOF Volunteer

Great-Tailed Grackle

While normally found year-round in the Southwestern United States, great-tailed grackles can occasionally be seen here in Florida. Not to be confused with the boat-tailed grackle or common grackle, this species has unusually long, splayed tail feathers. The males are twice the size of female great-tailed grackles and sport iridescent black plumage. The females have long, slender tail feathers.

Great-tailed grackles are a member of the Icteridae family (New World Blackbirds) but are commonly mistaken for Corvidae. Similar to crows. They eat a wide variety of foods such as insects, grains, fruits, and even small fish. Although incapable of swimming, great-tailed grackles are known to forage in shallow waters searching for tadpoles and crustaceans.

This species of grackle is frequently spotted in rural areas during the day before coming back to urban areas to roost for the night. Great-tailed grackles are a common sight on farms, where they live in symbiosis with cattle by eating the parasites that plague the bovine. All in all, they are a welcome sight to Florida’s coasts and woodlands– as well as the occasional parking lot.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Author: Sarina Pennington IOF Volunteer

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebes, Podiceps nigricollis, are small water birds with a distinctive bright, red eye that gather in large flocks at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Salton Sea, or Mono Lake in California during the fall. Here, the most abundant grebes in the world enjoy a bounty of brine shrimp, alkali flies, and aquatic invertebrates before migrating to their winter home in the islands in the Gulf of California. Breeding takes place in the wetlands of western North America.

Fun Fact: While fattening up in the fall, the Eared Grebes’ pectoral muscles and hearts shrink rendering them flightless while their digestive organs grow to accommodate enough food to double the Grebe’s size. Before it’s time to migrate, the process reverses, and the grebes will begin their nocturnal journey to their wintering grounds.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Brown Pelican

Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are huge, stocky seabirds with thin necks and very long bills with a pouch that stretches as it is used for catching fish. They measure 39.4-53.9 inches with a wingspan of 78.7 inches and weigh about 70.5-176.4 oz. Adults are grayish brown with yellow heads and white necks. Their breeding plumage turns a deep reddish-brown along the back and sides of the neck. Juveniles are gray-brown from above, which includes the head and neck, and the belly and breast are a pale white.

The brown pelican has a wide range, living year-round in estuaries and coastal marines along both the east and west coasts. They breed between Maryland and Venezuela and between southern California and southern Ecuador. Breeding occurs mostly on barrier islands, natural islands in estuaries, and islands made of refuse from dredging. However, in Florida and southern Louisiana, they primarily use mangrove islands. When not feeding or nesting, they will rest on sandbars, pilings, jetties, breakwaters, mangrove islets, and offshore rocks, depending on the region.

Their diet mostly consists of small fish that form schools near the water’s surface. Pelicans generally forage during the day but can feed at night during the full moon. When a foraging pelican spots a fish, it will dive headfirst from as high as 65 feet! It will tuck and twist to the left to protect its trachea and esophagus from the impact. When it plunges into the water, the throat pouch will expand to trap fish, filling up to 2.6 gallons of water. Before swallowing, they will drain the water from their pouches. They will occasionally feed by sitting on the surface and seizing the prey with its bill. These birds will also steal from other seabirds, scavenge dead animals, and eat invertebrates.

Even though brown pelicans are awkward on land, they are strong swimmers and excellent fliers. Pelicans are highly social all year, breeding in colonies of up to several thousand pairs. Males will defend a nest site and the nearby perches for up to 3 weeks until they attract a mate; the pair will then be monogamous throughout the breeding season. The parents incubate the eggs with their feet. If disturbed, the parents will fly suddenly and, in haste, sometimes crush their eggs. The clutch size is 2-4 eggs; the incubation period is around 29-35 days. The eggs are chalky white; during incubation, they will become stained. The nestling period for the hatchlings is about 77-84 days before they can leave the nest. The hatchlings are helpless, with no feathers and bare pink skin; their eyes are open. Parents will regurgitate predigested fish onto the nest floor for their young, later switching to whole fish once they are big enough. The young will reach sexual maturity at about 3-5 years.

Thanks to conservation efforts, the brown pelican populations stabilized and slowly increased between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Bird Breeding Survey. They nearly disappeared from North America between the late 1950s and early 1970s from pesticides entering the food chain. The pesticide Endrin kills pelicans directly, while DDT contamination leads to thin-shelled eggs that break under the weight of the parents. In 1970, brown pelicans were federally listed as endangered. Due to the plight of pelicans and other species, DDT was banned in 1972, and the use of endrin was reduced; this enabled the pelican population to rise. Though human disturbance can still cause an issue for pelicans, frightened pelicans often abandon or accidentally destroy their nests. Abandoned fishing lines threaten brown pelicans and other marine species. It has been estimated that more than 700 adult and immature pelicans die each year in Florida alone from entanglement in sport-fishing gear.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Ovenbird

The ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) gets its name from the shape of its nest. The dome and side entrance make it resemble a Dutch oven. Their range is the eastern and central United States and parts of Canada, extending downwards towards Mexico and Central America. Florida is part of their nonbreeding habitat.

Ovenbirds generally avoid open fields and cultivated areas. They prefer uninterrupted forests with close canopies. If mature forests are unavailable, they can live and feed along coffee trees or mangroves in agricultural lands. Even though they prefer leaf litter when hunting for invertebrates, they will forage in grasses, rocks, or mud near water. In their winter habitats, they are flexible in what they eat. They can add seeds to their diets and specialize in locally abundant prey like ants. Whereas they breed and rear their young as a pair in their breeding habitats, they are generally solitary on their winter grounds.

Ovenbirds are abundant, and their population is stable, increasing slightly over the years. They are of low conservation concern; However, they still face threats from forest fragmentation and disruption of industrial noises. During migration, large numbers can face casualty from colliding with towers and tall buildings.

Cool Fact: The abundance, wide distribution, and relative ease of observation have made the ovenbird a model songbird in scientific studies for nearly a century. These studies have helped scientists understand the effects of logging and habitat fragmentation on migrating songbirds.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Loggerhead Shrike

This small bird has a light gray body with a white underbelly. It has a black tail, wing markings, and a mask around its eyes (ECOS date unknown).

The species range extends as far north as Canada, along the prairies of the central region, down to Mexico. It can be found from the northern Gulf Coast to the southern part of Florida, where they spend the winter (FWC 2003).

Loggerheaded shrikes prefer areas with low vegetation, such as grasslands, marshes, prairies, scrubs, and sandhills. They can also be found near agricultural areas, golf courses, and urban areas. They can be found near structures with spines, such as barbed wire or thorns on plants (ECOS date unknown).

Most of their diet consists of insects such as grasshoppers and beetles. However, they consume larger prey such as mice, roadkill, and other birds. They attack the throat of their prey, paralyzing them before impaling them on spines before consuming them (ECOS date unknown).

Both sexes participate in nest selection sites, looking for thorny areas for protection. Females primarily construct the nest made of a stick foundation and lined with soft materials such as foliage and animal fur. About five eggs are laid with gray, brown, and black markings. They incubate for about 16 days, take two days to hatch, and begin leaving the nest at about 18 days and rely on their parents for food for up to 6 weeks (FWC 2003).

The spraying of sodium nitrate fertilizer has been shown to negatively affect populations. When sample nests were compared to control groups, there was a significant loss of eggs, nests, and offspring (Yosef and Deyrup, 2019).

References :

[ECOS] Environmental Conservation Online System. Date unknown. United States Fish and Wildlife Services. [Accessed 2023 March 19]: https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/8833

[FWC] Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 2003. Florida’s breeding bird atlas: A collaborative study of Florida’s birdlife (Online). [Accessed 2023 March 19]: http://www.myfwc.com/bba/

Porter, C. 2000. “Lanius ludovicianus” (Online), Animal Diversity Web. [Accessed 2023 March 18] https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lanius_ludovicianus/

Yosef, R and Deyrup, MA. 2019. Effects of fertilizer-induced reduction of invertebrates on reproductive success of Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus). Bulletin of Experimental Biology & Medicine. 166(6):307-312.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) have an extremely wide range. Canada and the northern parts of the United States are their breeding grounds. During non-breeding times, they migrate to parts of the central and southern United States and Mexico.

These little sparrows live in grasslands with few trees, such as meadows, pastures, and cultivated fields planted with cover crops. They also inhabit tidal salt marshes and estuaries as they are near the ocean. In colder regions, Alaska and northern Canada, they will live among the shrubby willows of the tundra. During breeding seasons, they will eat insects and invertebrates; in their winter range, their diet will consist primarily of small seeds from grasses and forbs. Along coastal areas, they may eat tiny crustaceans.

During the nonbreeding range, Savannah Sparrows will gather in large flocks and become increasingly restless until they depart.

Savannah Sparrows are widespread and abundant and are of low conservation concern. These sparrows benefited from the human-changed landscape as pasturelands opened up, but some of their range has been lost to the urbanization that followed and the shift in agricultural practices. Due to their foraging behavior, they are vulnerable to some crop pesticides and may eat granular pesticides that are scattered in cornfields.

Cool Fact, the Savannah Sparrow’s name is not named because of its fondness for grassy areas but is named by a famous nineteen-century ornithologist Alexander Wilson for collecting specimens in Savannah, Georgia.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo, Lynn Marie

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Peacock

There are three species of peafowls, Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus), Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus), and Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis). Indian Peafowl are commonly found in Florida and are nonnative birds that can reach 35 to 50 inches and is the largest bird that can fly. All species are distinguishable from each other as the male Indian peafowl have bright blue heads and necks. Males are peacocks; females are peahens. It is very easy to distinguish between males and females. Males are beautiful, with very bright plumage. The feathers that cover the tail are 5 feet long, which is longer than the body! When the tail is displayed, brilliant colors are visible. They use their tail display to attract a mate. Peahens have much more muted colors with a brown back and a white belly, they do not have long tail feathers, but they have a crest on their head and green neck feathers.

As the name suggests, this bird originates from the Indian subcontinents. They were introduced to other countries for zoos, parks, nature centers, or domestic pets. The Indian peafowls are omnivorous and feed on seeds, insects, fruits, small mammals, and small reptiles.

Cool Fact! The peacock is the national bird of India. Peacock feathers are important to Hinduism as they believe keeping them brings good luck and prosperity.

Peafowl are classified as a domestic species in Florida.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

White-eyed vireo

The White-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus) is a small songbird that lives in Florida year-round in scrubby areas such as overgrown pastures, forest edges, and mangroves. The diet comprises caterpillars, flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, leafhoppers, lacewings, and spiders. During nonbreeding seasons fruits will be a part of their diet.

Males defend territories from other males by wing flicking, fluffing, sleeking their feathers, and will pecking at the other male. Courtship will start as soon as the female arrives and they will maintain a monogamous bond during the breeding season. The White-eyed vireo will return to the same breeding area year after year, sometimes with different mates.

It takes a mating pair 3-5 days to complete a nest. They will use insect silk and spiderweb to make a shell, then collect stick leaves, bark, plant fibers, rootlets, and bits of paper and add them to the shell. They will use lichens, moss, or leaves outside the nest to camouflage the nest. Usually, 3-5 eggs are laid in a clutch with only 1-2 young being hatched; the eggs are white with some spotting. Incubation is 13-15 days; they can leave the nest after 9-11 days. Both parents contribute to incubating the eggs and feeding the young. However, there are times when the nest can be parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus after), which results in the unknowing parents caring for another bird’s young while their young do not survive.

This species is common with a stabilized population, so it is not of conservation concern.

Photo Credit: Sheri Douse, Lynn Marie

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Pioneer Trail at Kings Park on Merritt Island

The Pioneer Trail, inside of Kings Park, could be the trail that you have been missing. Located in north Merritt Island, this 240-acre community park is largely a wetlands preserve. The paved, well-maintained trail is suitable for walkers, runners, or cyclists (mountain, hybrid, cruisers, or road bikes will all work here), perfect for your whole family to enjoy. If you go later in the afternoon or evening, you will find portions of the trail are shaded.

The Pioneer Trail is a straight 1.1-mile trail connecting E. Hall Road and Chase Hammock Road. A straight line without looping makes it not only impossible to get lost but safe and easy for even the most novice trail enthusiasts to use! You will likely cover 2.2 miles round trip unless you turn back early or take a side trail. The trail takes you along two ponds and other water features, with plenty of native Florida vegetation including wildflowers, grasses, palm trees, and more. Keep an eye out for alligators. With the opportunity to see more of this natural Florida scenery, you might want to wander down a side trail.

The small developed area at the northeast corner of the park features a multi-use field and paved parking that accommodates practice games and neighborhood play. A deep freshwater lake adjacent to the parking area offers a natural ramp for non-motorized boats. Another small lake, a canoe trail, and rustic nature trails invite exploration for the adventurous. Don’t forget your sun protection, extra water, and bug spray. There are restrooms, a pavilion, and picnic tables at either end of the trail.

Amenities:

Restroom

1.4-mile Pioneer trail.

Picnic area

1 Multi-use field

Canoe Launch,

Freshwater,

Non-motorized Access

Photo Credit and Author: Director Bobby Putnam

Wood Thrush

Florida is one of the Wood Thrush’s (Hylocichla mustelina) migration routes; they breed in deciduous and mixed forests in eastern North America. During winter, they will live in shady, broad-leaved, and palm tropical forests.

Wood thrushes mainly eat invertebrates on leaf litter and fruits from shrubs. Their summer diet is primarily invertebrates, though they will occasionally eat salamanders found in trees. Their diet will shift to mainly fruits, particularly fatty fruits, to prepare for migration. In winter, they are omnivorous, eating a variety of fruits and invertebrates. The male Wood Thrush is one of the first songbirds to be heard in the morning and among the last in the evening.

Wood Thrushes are solitary foragers, though they may form mixed flocks on their wintering grounds. They are still common though their population has declined between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The Wood Thrush is included in the Yellow Watch List for birds most at risk of extinction without significant conservation actions to reverse declines and reduce threats. It is thought that habitat fragmentation in their breeding and wintering grounds contributed to their population decline. Lower food quality choices can result from fragmented habitats along with exposed nests for predators such as raccoons, jays, crows, and domestic or feral cats, and to the nest parasite, the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater).

Fun Fact: Among many alarms calls this bird can make, one is a distinctive, sharp machine-gun-like sound that can be heard from far off.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

American Avocet

The American Avocet is a bird species belonging to the family Recurvirostridae. Its scientific name is Recurvirostra americana. It is a medium-sized shorebird with distinct black and white plumage and long, thin, upturned bills.

American Avocets can be found wading in shallow wetlands, sometimes in water less than 8 inches deep, but they are also known to swim in deeper waters. Foraging in shallow fresh and saltwater wetlands, salt ponds, impoundments, and evaporation ponds. When they forage, they search for aquatic invertebrates in shallow water while wading or swimming. Their diet is composed of a variety of prey such as beetles, water boatmen, midges, brine flies, fairy shrimp, water fleas, amphipods, small fish, and seeds from aquatic plants. These avocets employ a unique hunting technique called scything, where they sweep their bill from side to side to catch prey in the water column. They repeat this behavior with every step, placing their slightly open bill in the water and moving it in the direction of their outstretched foot, alternating sides with each step. Pecking and plunging are also used by American Avocets to capture prey. Pecking involves lunging out with their bill to snatch prey within the water column or in the wetland bottom while plunging requires the birds to submerge their head and neck underwater to grab prey in the water column. The birds’ foraging methods are influenced by the time of day, flock size, and date. Scything and pecking are more common during the day while plunging is more frequent at night.

During the breeding season, they form loose colonies and defend their nest sites by adopting various postures such as outstretching their necks or performing a crouch-run while ruffling their feathers to deter intruders. When faced with a land predator, they may approach the threat with a teetering gait and outstretched wings, as if walking on a tightrope. To distract the predator, they may crouch on the ground as if incubating and then move to another location to repeat the action.

Before copulation, male American Avocets engage in a display where they preen themselves with water, gradually increasing the intensity until they frenziedly splash about just before mating with the female. After mating, the pair intertwines their necks with their bills crossed and runs forward. The pair stays together for one breeding season. During the nesting period, the American Avocets perform a unique display called “circling,” where two pairs or a pair and a third individual form a circle and stretch their bills towards each other while rotating and calling out. On their wintering grounds, they often gather in flocks with other shorebirds, especially the Black-necked Stilt, foraging and resting together. They nest in areas with little or no vegetation along dikes and islands. During winter they also use intertidal mudflats, tidal lagoons, brackish impoundments, sewage ponds, rice fields, and flooded pastures. The selection of a nest site is a joint effort by male and female avocets. The male takes the lead, guiding the female around and creating scrapes in the ground until they agree on a suitable location. The nest itself is formed by either the male or female making a shallow indentation in the earth using their breast and feet. They may then line the scrape with materials such as grass, feathers, pebbles, or other small items, although some nests are left unlined. During incubation, additional lining may be added to the nest, particularly if there is a risk of flooding due to rising water levels.

The American Avocet is not currently classified as a threatened or endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. However, it is still facing various threats, such as habitat loss and degradation due to human activities such as agriculture and urban development, as well as climate change.

Here are some ways to help protect the American Avocet and its habitat:

1. Support conservation organizations: Many organizations are working to protect the habitats and populations of the American Avocet, such as the National Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy. Consider donating to or volunteering with these groups.

2. Advocate for habitat preservation: You can contact your elected officials to advocate for the preservation of wetlands, marshes, and other essential habitats that the American Avocet depends on for survival.

3. Plant native plants: By planting native plants in your yard, you can create a habitat for birds like the American Avocet and help restore degraded areas.

4. Reduce your carbon footprint: Climate change is a significant threat to the American Avocet and many other bird species. You can help by reducing your carbon footprint, for example, by using energy-efficient appliances, driving less, and eating a plant-based diet.

By taking these actions, we can help protect the American Avocet and ensure that future generations can enjoy these beautiful birds.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Renada Hill – Valencia State College

Tri-colored heron

Tri-colored Heron (Egretta tricolor) is a sleek and slender bird with a daggerlike bill. They have a long thin neck that curves up to their small head. The Tri-colored heron is a medium size bird that measures up to 23.6-27.6 inches with a wingspan of 37.4 inches and weighs about 14.6 oz. It is a colorful bird with a mixture of blue-gray, lavender, and white. Unlike other dark herons, they have a white belly.

On the Atlantic coast, they will migrate south, whereas on the gulf coast, they remain year-round, though some may migrate further south. Tri-colored Herons can be found in coastal areas and freshwater marshes, lake edges, canals, and ditches during the non-breeding seasons. During breeding seasons, they will use coastal estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, and lagoons, though they typically breed on islands with small trees or shrubs. Breeding birds have small white plumes extending from the back of the head, a bright blue patch of skin around the bill, and pink legs. Nonbreeding birds lack the colors of breeding birds and have yellow legs. Juveniles have rusty necks and rusty-edged feathers.

These birds forage for small fish, such as topminnows and killifishes, in open or semi-open brackish wetlands. To capture these small fish, they will stalk, chase, and stand and wait. Unlike other heron species, the Tri-colored Heron foraging style is much more active as they will chase after fish with wings flapping. They usually forage alone or at the edge of flocks of wading birds. Despite being solitary foragers, they do nest in colonies, often with other herons and egrets.

Males are aggressive if others come close to their nest site, though females can enter during courtship. Once paired, they formed a monogamous bond for the breeding season and perhaps longer. Males collect twigs for the female, who will rearrange them for the best, making it a bulkier platform. There will typically be about 3-5 eggs in a clutch though only one young typically hatch. Eggs are pale greenish blue. The incubation period is about 21-24 days. Young can leave the nest after 17-21 days after hatching.

Tri-colored Herons are common with a stable population from 1966 to 2015, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, though the status of this species differs by state and region. In the central Everglades in Florida, the number of breeding pairs decreased by 75% from 1996 to 2002 and 2007 to 2010, listing the Tricolored Heron as a state threatened by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Reduced freshwater flows in the Everglades are likely responsible for population declines there. In other areas, habitat loss may be contributing to declines but increases in aquaculture farming along the coast can also place Tricolored Herons at greater risk of being shot or falling victim to bird repelling techniques. Still, in other areas, increases in artificial wetland habitat through dredging may benefit Tricolored Herons by providing additional nesting locations.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon, Andy Waldo

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Willet

Willets (Tringa semipalmata) are large, stocky shore birds with long legs and thick, straight bills considerably longer than their head. Their wings are broader and rounder than many other shorebirds, and the tail is short and squared off at the base. Willets measure 13.0-16.1 inches with a wingspan of 27.6 inches and weigh about 7.0-11.6 oz. Willets are gray or brown in color. During flight, they display a striking white and black stripe along each wing. Their colors in summer are mottled gray, brown, and black; in winter, they are much plainer gray. They are nocturnal migrants, only living in the coastal Florida areas during the winter nonbreeding season.

The Willet’s widespread wintering range makes them one of the easiest shorebirds to spot. They inhabit open beaches, bay shores, marshes, mudflats, and rocky coastal zones. In winter, Willets eat small crabs, worms, clams, and other invertebrates from saltwater marshes and along open coastlines. Willets can feed during the night and day, grabbing their prey from the surface using their sensitive bill tip.

Although Willets are common in some areas, they declined between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The 2014 State of the Birds Watch List has listed this species as a risk of becoming threatened or endangered without conservation action. Both adults and fledglings are also vulnerable to collisions with power lines built through wetland breeding sites. During the 19th century, Willets were widely hunted for food. It took the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 to begin the Willet’s comeback to its present numbers.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie, Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Pine Warbler

Pine Warblers (Setophaga pinus) are common in eastern pine forests. These long-tailed warblers are hefty with a stout bill. They are small, measuring about 5.1-5.5 inches with a wingspan of 7.5-9.1 inches, and they weigh about 0.3-0.5 oz. The Pine Warbler is yellowish with an olive back, a whiteish belly, and two prominent white wing bars on gray wings. Adult males are brighter than females; females and immatures are more subdued in color and can even appear gray-brown. Pine Warble can be difficult to see as they perch high in pines. Compared to other warblers, this species is not heavily patterned.

Pine Warblers are well-named as they spend most of their time in pine trees. Pine Warblers live in pine or mixed pine-deciduous forests in the eastern United States. Northern populations migrate to the southeastern United States during winter. Individuals that breed in the southeast typically stay there year-round.

Insects make up most of their diet, which mainly consists of caterpillars and other arthropods, including beetles, grasshoppers, bugs, ants, bees, flies, cockroach eggs, and spiders. However, in colder months, they will eat fruits and seeds, notably pine seeds. While foraging, they will hop along branches as they pick food from bark and needles. Pine Warblers can also feed on the ground and catch insects in the air.

Males are aggressive in the early breeding season; they chase other birds and indicate aggression by gliding or flying with stiff wingbeats around their opponent. Sometimes during a fight, they fly toward each other and lock bills in the air. In winter Pine Warblers will forage in mixed-species flocks. In late winter or spring, males will establish breeding territories by singing persistently and chasing intruders.

Nests are almost always built in pine trees, usually high in the tree and concealed among needles and cones. The female will gather most of the nest material and bind the nest with sider or caterpillar silk. The female can begin laying eggs in 14 days once the nest is finished. The male will often escort the female as she gathers nest materials and occasionally will help build. There are 3-5 eggs in a clutch, with only 1-2 young hatching. The incubation period is 10-13 days, and it takes about 10 days before the offspring can leave the nest. Eggs are white, grayish, or greenish-white with brown speckles. The offspring are undeveloped and downy. Parents will perform the broken wing display to lure predators away from the nests. After the young fledge, the warblers will move around in family groups.

Pine Warbler populations are steadily increasing, indicating this species is a low conservation concern. Across much of their range, the pine forests have been altered or destroyed by logging, development, and fire suppression. However, over the last few decades, Pine Warblers have moved into deciduous forests where pines have been introduced.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie, Andy Waldo

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Killdeer

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a shorebird that is about the size of a robin measuring 7.9-11.0 inches with a wingspan of 18.1-18.9 inches; they weigh about 2.6-4.5 oz. The Killdeer has a round head with large eyes and a short bill. Their plumage is brownish-tan on top and white on the bottom; two black bands are on the white chest. Their brown face I marked with black and white patches. The Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give. These birds have an extremely wide range from Canada to the United States and Pacific Coast. Some of the northern populations do migrate to Mexico in the winter. The populations in the southern United States and Pacific Coast are year-round residents.

Killdeer spend most of their time walking along the ground or running ahead a few steps before stopping to look around and then running on again. They will quickly take flight when disturbed, circling overhead and calling repeatedly. These birds can be found on open ground with low vegetation such as lawns, driveways, gravel-covered roofs, pastures, fields, sandbars, and mudflats. Compared to other shorebirds they do not only stay close to the water as they are also common in dry areas.

They will search for insects and earthworms by running and stopping to look around. Invertebrates are what primarily make up their diet. Invertebrates include earthworms, snails, crayfish, grasshoppers, beetles, and aquatic insect larvae, they will also eat seeds left in agricultural lands. As an opportunistic forager, Killdeer has been seen hunting frogs and eating dead minnows.

Their nest is a shallow depression on the ground, After egg-laying begins, Killdeer will often add rocks, bits of shell, sticks, and trash to the nest. The clutch size will typically be 3-6 eggs, though the number of broods will be 1-3, and the incubation period is at 22-28 days. Eggs are buff-colored and heavily marked with blackish brown. Chicks have a full coat of buffy down feathers and a single black breast band, they can walk out of the nest as soon as their feathers dry. To protect the nest, the parents will distract predators by calling loudly, bobbing, and running away. Another method that is used to lure predators away is the broken-wing display by feigning injury.

The Killdeer is a species that is of relatively low conservation concern. They are among the most successful of all shorebirds because of their fondness for human-modified habitats and willingness to nest close to people. However, because they live close to people, Killdeer are vulnerable to pesticide positioning and collisions with cars and buildings.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Eastern Phoebe

The Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) is a small flycatcher with a short, thin bill that is used for catching insects. It is a plump little songbird with a brownish-gray color, a white belly, and a head as the darkest part. Birds with their fall plumage appear faint yellow on the belly and whitish edging on the folded wing feathers.

Eastern Phoebes breed in wooded areas, generally near water sources. Their chosen nesting sites are typically human-built structures such as overhanging decks and bridges. They could nest on woody understory vegetation; it was possible that they chose this type of vegetation to become less visible or to provide perches near the nest for the adults. During winter they can be found in deciduous woods. They have an extensive range from parts of Canada to the eastern parts of the U.S. and parts of Mexico. Florida is part of their non-breeding habitat.

The Eastern Phoebe’s diet mainly consists of flying insects such as butterflies, wasps, flies, and cicadas. They will also eat spiders, ticks, millipedes, and occasionally, small fruits or seeds. When hunting they will be on alert on a low perch often twitching their tails when prey is spotted. They will quickly leave their perch on quick wingbeats. After they catch their food, they often return to the same or nearby perch.

Rarely seen in groups, even mated pairs spend little time together. Males are territorial and will defend their territory from others Eastern Phoebes, though they do tolerate other species. This species is of low conservation concern because their population increases as people spread across landscapes building human-made structures used by these birds.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Yellow-throated Warbler

The Yellow Throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) is well named for its bright yellow throat; they are gray and white with black streaks down the sides. They are small birds measuring about 5.1-5.5 inches with a wingspan of 8.3 inches and weighing about 0.3-0.4 oz. Their range consists of the central and eastern parts of the United States, parts of Mexico, and the Caribbean islands. Florida is part of their non-breeding habitat. Their habitats are the same during the breeding season and winter range; they live in pine forests with an open understory, bald cypress swamps, and woodlands near streams.

The warbler’s diet consists of insects such as beetles, caterpillars, and flies. They forage more deliberately and with less fluttering than other warblers as they will probe for insects in crevices, pine cones, and clusters of pine needles. During the non-breeding season, they also forage on insects attracted to agave and coconut palm flowers. During the breeding season, males will establish territories with song and generally will only interact with their mates and offspring. During the non-breeding season, they form mixed-species flocks with Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and other warblers.

According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the Yellow Throated Warblers are common and are a species that is of low conservation concern.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Little Blue Heron

The Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) is a native species of Florida. They are relatively common in peninsular Florida, though they are rare in the panhandle. They can be found in fresh, salt, brackish, swamps, ponds, lakes, and rivers. They can measure 22.1-29.1 inches with a wingspan of 39.4-41.3 inches and weigh up to 10.4-14.5 oz. Juveniles look different from adults; they are white all over, with the exception of their outer wing feathers (outer primaries) which can have some dusky tips. Juveniles molting into adult plumage will be patchy with colorations of blue and white. The adults are dark all over, their head and neck are maroon in color during the breeding season, and during the non-breeding season, it has a purplish head and neck. Their body is a dark slate blue. They have yellow eyes and greenish legs, and the base of their bill is pale blue with a black tip.

The Little Blue Heron is a stand-and-wait predator. They watch the water for prey, changing location by strolling or flying to a completely different site. Their diet consists of fish, insects, shrimp, and amphibians. They are solitary predators preferring to hunt alone, along freshwater systems, and on floating vegetation. However, they nest in colonies on trees among other nesting herons and wading birds. Nests are built out of sticks and are placed in trees and shrubs and will lay up to three to five blue-green eggs that will hatch in 20 to 24 days. The young can leave the nests and fly (fledged) at 28 days of age.

The little blue heron’s current threats are not well understood. Still, they may include coastal development, disturbance at foraging and breeding sites, environmental issues, degradation of feeding habitat, reduced prey availability, and predators. Other threats may include exposure such as pesticides, toxins, and parasite infection. The U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects this species. Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule lists them as a state-threatened species.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Cedar Waxwing

The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a sleek bird with a large head, a short neck, and a short wide bill. They have a crest on top of their head that often lies flat and droops over the back of their head. Their wings are similar to the starling, it is broad and pointed, and their tail is short and square-tipped. They can reach lengths up to 5.5-6.7 inches, with a wingspan of 8.7-11.8 inches. Cedar Waxwings are pale brown on the head and chest fading to soft gray on the wings. The belly is pale yellow, and the tail is gray with a bright yellow tip.

The Cedar Waxwing has an extensive range, which includes all of the U.S., parts of Mexico, and parts of Canada. Florida makes up parts of their non-breeding habitat. They inhabit deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, particularly areas along streams. They are social birds that form large flocks and often nest in the loose structure of a dozen or so nests. They feed on fruits year-round. The birds’ name derives from their appetite for cedar berries in winter, though they eat a variety of fruits. In summer Cedar Waxwings will supplement their fruit diet with protein-rich insects.

Cedar Waxwings are listed as ‘least concern’ as their population is stable; however, they are vulnerable to window collisions and being struck by cars as the birds feed on fruiting trees along roadsides.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Wood Stork

The Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) is a large, long-legged wading bird that can reach lengths up to 35-45 inches with a wingspan of 60-65 inches. They are completely white all over with the exception of their black flight feather and tail. The head has no feathers and is essentially bald, the skin is gray, rough, and scaly. They have black bills and black legs with pink toes. Adults are voiceless and are capable of only making hissing sounds.

Wood Storks feed in groups, and their head will be down feeling for prey in open wetlands. Prey consists of small to medium-sized fish, crayfish, amphibians, and reptiles. They have a unique hunting technique, where they will move their partially opened bill through the water, snapping up prey when prey comes in contact with the bill. They fly with their head and legs outstretched, soaring in a similar fashion to a raptor or vulture.

The Wood Stork is the only species of stork that breeds in the U.S. They breed in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. They have very social nesting habits and are often seen nesting in large colonies of 100-150 nests. The nests are primarily built in trees that stand in water.

In Florida, Wood Storks can lay eggs from October to June. Two to five eggs are laid in a single clutch per season. The incubation period can last up to 30 days, and young storks can fly at 10-12 weeks. Non-breeding wood storks have a large range throughout North America, to northern Argentina in South America.

The South Florida population has declined due to agriculture expansion and altered hydro cycles. Normal flooding is important to increase the prey population for wood storks, and successful breeding depends on normal hydro cycles. The drainage of cypress stands prevents wood storks from nesting, and it promotes predation from raccoons. The wood stork is protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and is listed as a threatened species by the Federal Endangered Species Act. Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule listed the wood stork as a Federally designated Threatened species.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Author: Destiny Alvarez – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Oregon

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warblers, Mniotilta varia, spend their winters in Florida and California, with some migrating all the way to northern South America. These medium-sized warblers can be found in a number of habitats including forests, wetlands, mangroves, and urban settings.

Insects and butterfly larvae make up their diets. Look for these agile birds on tree trunks and thick limbs where they use their downcurved bills to probe moss and bark to pluck insects.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Wilson’s Warbler

Wilson’s Warblers, Cardellina pusilla, are easily recognized with their bright yellow feathers and black cap. After breeding in the western U.S. and Canada, these small warblers head to Mexico and Central America for the summer. During migration, they pass through all 48 states.

Look for them in shrubby areas of scrubs and forests near a water source. These birds rarely stay still. They fly out and back from their low perches to catch insects in mid-air. They are quick to snatch spiders, caterpillars, and larval insects off of twigs and leaves.

According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Wilson’s Warblers population declined by 60% between 1966 and 2019. Threats include habitat loss on their migratory paths. Create bird-friendly yards with native Florida shrubs and trees to help these birds recover.

Vermilion Flycatcher

The Vermilion Flycatcher’s genus name, Pyrocephalus rubinus, means “fire-headed.” The brilliant male pictured here is an uncommon visitor to Florida. Females are grayish brown with a yellowish-red underside.

Vermilion Flycatchers are year-round residents in Central and South America. However, they are known as wanderers and have traveled to British Columbia. Some spend their winter along Florida’s Gulf coast.

These small, but striking birds, prefer open habitats with a water source where they perch on low branches, shrubs, and fences. They fly swiftly to catch their prey and loop back to their perch. Food consists of insects, including bees, crickets, and beetles. Larger insects, such as butterflies or grasshoppers, are slammed against the perch to make them suitable for eating.

Although scarce in Florida, Vermilion Flycatchers are common in most of their range and, thus, are a species of low-level concern.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

White Wagtail

White wagtails, Motacilla alba, are common birds across Asia and Europe. A small population lives in western Alaska. These passerine birds are 6.5 to 7.5 in long. They can be found in open areas near water or in urban areas foraging insects and small invertebrates. The white wagtail is the national bird of Latvia and has been featured on many stamps throughout Eurasia.

Fun Fact: In Latin, Motacilla alba means little mover. However, because the bird constantly wags its tail, some medieval writers thought it meant wagtail.

Photo Credit: Lynn Marie

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed gulls, Larus delawarensis, are the most common gull and can be found throughout the US. They have yellow legs, a gray back, and a black ring that circles their short, yellow beak. These medium-sized gulls can fly at speeds up to 40 mph and skillfully remain motionless in the wind.

Breeding takes place in Northern US and Canada. Ring-billed gulls can be found throughout the central US in the spring and fall during migration. They spend their winters throughout the southern US, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Look for Ring-billed gulls on the coasts and estuaries. Comfortable around humans, these gulls are frequently found near docks and harbors. They are commonly seen inland near lakes and ponds as well as in parking lots and landfills.

The Ring-billed gull’s natural diet consists of fish such as smelt, insects such as beetles and dragonflies, as well as rodents, earthworms, and grains. Unfortunately, they have acquired quite an appetite for french fries and other unhealthy, discarded human food.

Due to habitat loss and hunting, humans nearly decimated the Ring-billed gull population. The 1917 Migratory Birds Convention Act (Canada) and 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (U.S.) offered the protection this bird needed to recover. Today, Ring-billed gulls are thriving and expanding their breeding territory.

Photo: Credit: Dan Kon

Common Ground Dove

The Common Ground Dove, Columbina passerina, is most commonly found foraging on the ground and often in small flocks or pairs. However, it is a small bird about the size of a sparrow with gray plumage that blends into the ground and often goes unnoticed. The Common Ground Dove is the smallest dove in the United States. and can be found in the southern US from Florida to California.

Common Ground Doves feed primarily on seeds but will eat snail shells, small berries, and small insects. They will visit bird feeders. Look for these tiny doves in residential areas as well as at forest edges, in pine woodlands, and coastal dunes.

The male pursues a female of his choice by following her and raising his wings to reveal his gorgeous chestnut plumage. He courts her by puffing up and making throaty calls. The female agrees to accept him as a partner when she eats the regurgitated food he offers her. Both the male and female construct simple nests on the ground or in shrubs, mangroves, or palm fronds. The female lays 1 -3 eggs and will produce 1 -4 broods each year. Incubation lasts for about two weeks. Both parents feed the chicks a secretion called crop milk until they are ready to leave the nest at about two weeks of age.

The population of Common Ground Doves is currently considered stable. However, they do face the threats of loss of habitat, predation of their exposed nests by wild animals such as bobcats, snakes, and crows, and human interferences including vehicle strikes, hunting., and outdoor cats.

When we learn to connect, respect, and coexist with our wildlife and within our shared spaces, we will ensure that the next generations will experience these fantastic little birds.

Photo credit: Dan Kon

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, is a medium-sized heron that is smaller than a Great Egret. They have a black bill, a patch of yellow skin on their face, and vibrant yellow feet. They are year-round residents in Florida.

Look for Snowy Egrets near the coast, in wetlands, along rivers and lakes, and in agricultural fields that are wet. Their diet consists of fish, insects, crustaceans, frogs, and worms. They often use their yellow feet to stir up mud to make food accessible. You may find them eating while paddling, walking, running, or standing. They often forage in groups with other species including herons, egrets, ibises, and Roseate Spoonbills.

During the breeding season, Snowy Egrets grow long billowy plumes on their backs and heads. Their feet become a bright yellowish-orange and the skin on their face becomes reddish in color. Male Snowy egrets provide quite a display of courtship that includes loud noises and incredible aerial displays. They will fight to defend their breeding territory.

Nesting occurs at the top of a tree or a shrub at a site chosen by the male. They often nest in colonies with other egrets, herons, Roseate Spoonbills, and ibises. The male builds the foundation of the nest and then supplies materials such as sticks, grasses, and Spanish moss so the female can make it comfortable. The female lays 2-6 eggs that hatch in 24–25 days. They take turns incubating the eggs and both care for the hatchlings for 20-24 days. The pair will defend their young who may be preyed upon by owls, alligators, and crows.

Before plume hunting of Snowy Egrets was stopped in 1910, the population of this beautiful bird was severely compromised. Today the population is stable. However, the massive destruction and degradation of wetlands that have occurred in the last 200+ years put them at risk for food insecurity. For the sake of Snowy Egrets and all wading birds, we must advocate for the preservation and restoration of wetlands and the food sources that lie within them.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Wild Turkey

Wild turkeys, Meleagris gallopavo, can be seen throughout Florida foraging in leaflitter in open areas or at the edges of forests. Insects, snails, berries, and nuts make up much of their diets. They often create flocks of up to 20 birds. At night, wild turkeys stay safe by roosting in the trees of a dense forest.

There are two subspecies of wild turkeys in Florida. The Osceola or Florida wild turkey (M.g. osceola) is only found in peninsular Florida. In the panhandle and northern Florida, the Osceola turkey breeds with the Eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). These large chubby birds with their iridescent plumage and long legs have a wingspan of 49-56.5 inches. Females are smaller than males and not as brightly colored.

In the spring, the male wild turkey’s head will turn bright red as he struts, gobbles, and fans out his tail to attract a female. The hen will build a nest on the ground where she lays 9-11 eggs over 12-13 days. In 25-26 days, the incubated eggs will hatch. It’s not long before the young can feed themselves but they are not able to fly for two weeks. The hen will keep them safe at night under her wings for about four weeks until they are strong enough to fly to a tree to roost.

Fun Fact: Turkey fossils older than 5 million years have been found throughout the southern US.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo and Dan Kon

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Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Dendrocygna bicolor, are found year-round in rice fields in central Florida. Look for them in flooded pastures, irrigated lands, ponds, lakes, freshwater marshes, slow-moving rivers, and freshwater wetlands. Once known as the Fulvous Tree Duck, these birds roost in the trees of forested areas next to their water source. They may flock with Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. As winter approaches, watch for them to appear in greater numbers in freshwater marshes and wetlands.

These striking caramel and black ducks with their oversized bluish-gray legs forage in water that is less than 20 inches deep. Dinner consists of mostly seeds from aquatic plants and some invertebrates. Fulvous Whistling-Ducks can be seen wading or swimming while foraging by diving, tipping up, or dabbling to find food with their bills. Their thick bills are made to filter the food from the mud. You may also find them plucking an insect from vegetation for a tasty snack.

In mid-April, Fulvous Whistling-Ducks leave their flocks to begin the mating season. Mated pairs are bonded for years and sometimes for life, although the males may sometimes mate with more than one female. Together, the male and female choose the nest site in a dense marsh above the water or on the ground near the water. They build the nest by weaving stalks and grasses into a 14-inch bowl shape that is 4.3 inches deep. Most include a ramp to the water. The clutch size is 2 – 14 eggs and the female and male share the task of incubation for 24 – 25 days. Although the young leave the nest soon after hatching, instinctually know how to swim and dive as well as forage., both parents look after them until they fledge two months later.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Sanderling

Sanderlings, Calidris alba, are chubby little sandpipers that grow to only 7 or 8 inches, weigh 1.5 to 3 .5 ounces, and have a wingspan of up to 13.8 inches.

Sanderlings breed in the arctic tundra and migrate to the southern United States and South America in the fall where they spend their winters. Non-breeding adults may choose to avoid the long flight to the arctic and spend their summers in the hotter climates.

Look for Sanderlings foraging on Florida’s beaches and sometimes in mudflats. These shorebirds use their little black legs to run fast to snatch up prey when the tide recedes and run away as the tide rolls in. Their black beaks are perfect for plucking aquatic invertebrates, most often sand crabs, from the sand. Sanderlings also dine on small mollusks, insects, worms, grasses, seeds, and human junk food.

Sadly, Sanderlings are listed as a species of high concern by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network due to declining populations. Threats include the development and alteration of shoreline habitats, pesticide pollution, and oil spills.

Sanderlings are fierce defenders of their feeding grounds. Humans can be fierce defenders of their feeding grounds too. Participate in beach cleanups, leave nothing behind when you visit a beach and advocate for the preservation of Sanderling’s natural habitat.

Photo Credit: David Gale

Prothonotary Warbler

The radiant golden Prothonotary Warbler, Protonotaria citrea, is a delight to see as it hops among the low branches in the dark understories of shaded swamps. It has bluish-gray wings and tail, white under the tail, olive-yellow back, and black beady eyes. Females are a bit paler than males.

Prothonotary Warblers, also known as swamp warblers, breed in swamps, flooded forests, and woods near lakes and streams. They are one of only two warblers who build their nests in abandoned chickadee and woodpecker holes. Courtship begins in April when the males arrive in Florida. After quite a display of courtship, the male will place moss in the nesting cavity. The female will build the nest of leaves, bark, and moss before incubating 3 – 7 eggs for 12 -14 days. Both parents feed the young for 9- 10 days when they are ready to leave the nest. Prothonotary Warblers produce 1 – 3 broods each year.

Aquatic insects make up most of the warblers’ diet. Prothonotary Warblers forage on shores and above standing or slow-moving water. They also dine on spiders and insects including butterflies, beetles, flies, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, as well as seeds and fruit.

Migration begins in early fall to their winter homes in Central or northern South America.

Prothonotary Warblers are a species of concern. Their population is declining due to the loss and alteration of forested wetlands. Snakes and raccoons are nest predators. Restoring forested wetlands where natural flooding occurs has proven successful in increasing populations. Nest boxes with predator guards protect the eggs from predators.

Connect. Respect. Coexist.

Photo Credit: Paul Waller

Northern Shoveler

The Northern Shoveler, Spatula clypeata, is a wide-ranging duck species and a winter resident of Florida. After spending the summer months breeding in the west-central part of the United States running north all the way up to Alaska, Northern shovelers move south as winter approaches. But they don’t just occur in the Americas. This duck can be found across Europe and Asia, and winter down into Africa and India.

The males are strikingly colored, with green heads similar to a mallard, orange bodies, and a white chest. The females are mottled brown, similar to female mallards. But there is no mistaking these for mallards. One look at their large, flat, spoon-like bill immediately gives them away.

And it’s that very bill that allows them to feed. These ducks feed on tiny zooplankton and other small invertebrates and seeds. They sweep their head back and forth, filtering the water with tiny projections called lamellae. These lamellae work like a colander to sift out their food from the water. Oftentimes, you may observe large groups of shovelers swimming rapidly in a circle. This behavior creates a vortex that stirs food up from deeper waters allowing the group to feed.

The Northern Shoveler is one of the most common duck species found in the US. With populations over 5 million, it only trails mallards and blue wing teals for overall abundance. Found in shallow wetlands and marshes, in Florida, you can enjoy these visitors throughout the winter. They can be easily seen in places such as Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, and many other easy-to-access wetlands.

As the weather begins to cool, head out and enjoy this species, as well as all the other birds who come down to visit us during the winter months.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Glossy Ibis

The Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus, is a native wading bird found year-round in Florida. Look for them in freshwater and saltwater marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, mangroves, and flooded fields. Ibises wade in shallow water where they probe the mud for prey with their long beaks or snatch insects from the water’s surface. Food consists of dragonflies, crayfish, snails, crabs, fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, and more.

Glossy Ibises nest in colonies low in willows and other shrubs, on the ground, or in trees and shrubs near marshes or mangroves. The couple builds the nest and the female lays 3 – 4 eggs. The parents feed the young by regurgitation.

From a distance, Glossy Ibises appear dark. The sunlight will bring out the bronze, metallic green, and purple shades in the plumage.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon and Andy Waldo

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus, are common throughout Florida. Male Red-winged Blackbirds are black and have a beautiful yellow-tipped red shoulder patch. Females are brownish with white streaks and have a tinge of yellow/orange around their beaks.

Look for Red-winged blackbirds foraging on the ground in marshes, wet fields, swamps, and near other water sources. While 75% of their diet consists of seeds found on the ground or in shrubs, the birds also dine on insects such as spiders, grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, and millipedes. They may occasionally enjoy a berry or small fruit.

A loose colony of Red-winged blackbirds forms in wetlands where breeding takes place. A male may have more than one female in his territory, Together with other birds from the colony, he will aggressively defend the nest from larger birds. The female builds a nest in the marsh of cattails, reeds, leaves, and grass. She lays 3-4 eggs and incubates them for 10 – 12 days. The hatchlings are fed by both parents before they leave the nest at 11-14 days old.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Herons, Ardea herodias, are one of the most recognizable birds in Florida. The heron’s height and beautiful blue-gray plumage are hard to miss. They can reach 54 inches from head to tail, have a wingspan up to 75 inches, but weigh a mere 5-6 pounds.

You will most often find a Great Blue Heron standing alone at the water’s edge in saltwater or freshwater habitats. Fish, turtles, frogs, insects, birds, and rodents that pass within the area of the heron’s long neck are quickly snatched up by its powerful, long beak. Herons will also forage in fields or grasslands for frogs, birds, and small rodents.

During the breeding season, Great Blue Herons and their mates become part of a breeding colony that can include hundreds of pairs. Breeding colonies of Great Blue Herons are most often found in trees that are within 2-4 miles of their feeding areas. They may also be seen in mangroves, bushes, or on the ground. Males court females who lay 2-6 eggs. The couple shares the responsibility of incubating the eggs for up to a month and feeding the hatchlings for up to 3 months.

While Great Blue Heron’s remain mostly monogamous and enjoy the protection of the colony during the breeding season, for the rest of the year, they are solitary birds and will aggressively defend their feeding territory.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon and Andy Waldo

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius, is the only North American woodpecker that is fully migratory. They live and breed in North-eastern U.S. and Canada and spend their winters between the southern US and Central America. The male has a red throat as pictured here while the female’s throat is white.

From December – March, you may notice a line of holes in the trees and large shrubs in your garden. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has made sapwells where the sap of the tree can be harvested. Bats and other birds may visit the sapwells too. The holes produce no damage to the trees. The woodpecker’s favorite shrubs and trees include Viburnum, Waxmyrtle, Dahoon Holly, Live Oak, and Pine.

When they are not licking up the tree sap, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers will eat insects that are climbing up the tree, caught in the sap, or flying through the air as well as berries and fruits.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Hidden Waters Preserve

Once known as the Eichelberger Sink, this 90-acre preserve located near Eustis is managed by Lake County Water Authority. Hidden Waters Preserve was established in 1996 to protect the water seepage and Lake Alfred where water slowly seeps into the aquifer.

Hidden Waters Preserve offers 6 trails ranging from 2 miles to 15 miles. Hike the meandering paths through sandhill restoration areas. Notice the newly planted Long-leaf pines and the gopher tortoises who make their burrows there. Water flowing from a seepage slope offers the opportunity to discover various plants and ferns.

The elevational difference between the top of the sink and the bottom is 110 feet. Explore the depression marsh and lake at the bottom of the sink where you will find a variety of plants and wading birds. Bird watchers will be happy to discover some of the more than 35 birds on this designated FWC Statewide Birding Trail.

For more information and trail maps click here: https://www.lcwa.org/land_resources/open_preserves.php

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked stilts, Himantopus mexicanus, are often seen wading in shallow water in search of food such as small crustaceans, amphibians, and small fish. They also enjoy larva, dragonflies, and beetles as well as a few plants and seeds. Look for these unmistakable birds with long, pink legs in wetlands, flooded fields, shallow lakes and ponds, and saltmarshes.

The female chooses the male for mating and together they select a nest site and build the nest. Black-necked stilt nests are located on tiny islands, on floating masses of vegetation, or on the ground near the water. One will dig a hole with its feet and body. A lining of grasses, shells, stones, and other materials are added for 2 – 5 eggs. The couple will both incubate the eggs for nearly a month and raise the chicks until they are ready to be on their own in about a month after hatching.

When Black-necked stilts feel threatened by humans or other animals they will perform a “Popcorn Display.” A group of them will join together and jump up and down while flapping their wings and making loud sounds. They may also use a distraction tactic to lure predators away from their nests.

These beautiful birds face human threats of pesticide run-off and habitat loss. When birdwatching, stay far enough away so you do not disturb them.

Photo credit: Dan Kon

Little Big Econ State Forest

Located in Geneva in eastern Seminole County, the Little Big Econ State Forest gets its name from both the Econlockhatchee River and the Little Econlockhatchee River. Econlockhatchee means “earth-mound stream” in the Muskogee language and was named by the native Americans for the numerous mounds found along the river.

Before being established on March 24, 1994, by the Florida Legislature, the property was used for cattle ranching, crops, as a turpentine distillery, and for a portion of the Florida East Coast Railway. Today the 10,336 acres in the Little Big Econ State Forest is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise.

Seventeen miles of the Econlockhatchee River, which has been designating an Outstanding Florida Waterway, makes its way through the forest before flowing into the St. Johns River on the eastern boundary. The Little Big Econ State Forest boasts a variety of habitats including wet prairie, pine flatwoods, sandhill, scrub pine, flatwoods, scrub, sandhill, and oak-palm hammocks.

Over 160 bird species have been spotted in the forest including Bachman’s sparrows, crested caracara, wood storks, swallow-tailed kites, and sandhill cranes. Look for fox squirrels, gopher frogs, gopher tortoises, turkeys, deer, and alligators.

The Little Big Econ State Forest has been named one of the country’s most family-friendly hikes by the American Hiking Society. Saunter along the 5.2-mile loop Kolokee Trail, discover wildlife along the 8 miles of Florida National Scenic Trail, or explore any of the 15 miles of trails located in the forest.

Paddle all or a portion of the 20 mile-long Econlockhatchee River Paddling Trail. There are 12.1 miles of bicycle trails and 9.3 miles of equestrian trails complete with a water trough.

Primitive camping sites are available and some have a picnic table and fire ring.

Reserve the picnic pavilion for your special events.
Enjoy your lunch at a picnic table. Your leashed pets are welcome.

Whether for a day or a week, there is plenty to explore and discover at the Little Big Econ State Forest.

For trail maps and more information:
https://www.fdacs.gov/…/State-…/Little-Big-Econ-State-Forest

Photo credit: Christian Kon

Snail Kite

Snail Kites can be found flying low over open freshwater and marshes in Central and Southern Florida before dropping down to snatch an apple snail with their talons. They will fly to a perch and use their unique-shaped bills to pry the snails from their shells. Look for Snail Kites roosting in flocks just before hunting and during nesting season.

Listed as endangered in Florida since 1967, Snail Kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) depend on good quality water to survive. Urban development, sewage seepage, nutrient and pesticide run-off, and invasive plants have degraded much of Florida’s freshwater. Nearly 1/2 of the Everglades have been drained. Since a Snail Kite’s diet consists almost exclusively of apple snails that only live in freshwater areas, it is imperative that we protect the remaining wetlands.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Northern Crested Caracara

Caracaras are in the falcon family and are excellent hunters although they behave a lot like vultures. They are often seen eating carrion or scavaging around campsites. They tend to hunt small vulnerable animals that are injured but will also eat fruit.

These birds are commonly found in central and south America but have found a home at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. This populate is known as a relict population that was previously found in the vast oak savannas throughout Florida. As those areas were altered through human disturbance, Caracaras found a home at Florida’s largest true prairie.

American White Pelican

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), arrive in flocks soaring through the Florida sky in a V formation. With their snowy white bodies, yellowish-orange bills, orange legs, and black-tipped wings that span up to nine and a half feet, they are truly a sight to behold.

White Pelicans breed in the northwestern United States and in western Canada. Many choose to spend their winters near Florida’s coastlines and in its wetlands.

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) spend the summer months in colonies In Canada and Northwestern United States, where they breed and raise their young on lakes.

Before winter, flocks of white pelicans soar into Florida by flying high in a V formation. One of North America’s largest birds, a white pelican, is hard to miss with its wingspan of up to 9 1/2 feet. Black wingtips and pink or reddish-orange legs, feet, and bills make this bird a must-see.

Look for white pelicans on coastal waters, bays, estuaries, and inland waterways. Their nests, consisting of sticks and dirt, can be found on the ground. Watch as these graceful birds float on the surface of the water and dip their heads to scoop up a fish dinner. You will often find several of them together as they participate in a group effort to herd fish into a buffet for all.

White Pelicans are often spotted fishing with Double-Crested Cormorants. You may see a hungry White pelican steal a fish from another pelican or a cormorant.

Plan a trip to one of Florida’s coasts. Explore the shoreline and the wetlands. Take some time to sit back and discover the group’s camaraderie as well as the stealthy antics of a few individuals.

We can all work together to ensure these vulnerable beauties are here for our next generations to enjoy by eliminating pesticides and cleaning up litter, including monofilament lines.

Florida Sandhill Crane

Florida Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis pratensis) are a subspecies of the North American Sandhill Crane. They spend their entire lives in Florida and are members of the Gruidae crane family. The earliest fossils of a crane were found in Florida 2.5 million years ago.

Florida Sandhill Cranes are long-necked, long-legged, gray birds that stand nearly 4 feet tall. They have a bald spot on the top of their head that exposes bright red skin. Although they resemble herons, Sandhill Cranes stretch their necks, much like geese when they fly. Their wingspan can reach 6 1/2 feet. Look for pairs or small groups of Florida Sandhill Cranes in freshwater marshes, prairies, and pastures. You will find them dining on seeds, grain, berries, insects, earthworms, mice, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, and crayfish. They have a unique call of the wild sound that resembles a trumpet.

At two years old, monogamous Florida Sandhill Cranes pairs bond. They will begin a dramatic display of courtship that includes exquisite dancing with jumps, runs, and graceful flapping wings. The mates will build a nest of sticks, grass, and moss where two eggs are laid. The pair incubate the eggs for 32 days. At only two days old, the colts are able to follow their parents and begin to learn to forage for food. By ten months old, the juveniles leave the nest and can live to be 20 years old.

There are only 4,000 – 5,000 Florida Sandhill Cranes left. This low number has caused our state to designate them as Threatened, and thus, they are protected by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act and the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In November and December, 25,000 Greater Sandhill Cranes will migrate to Florida, where they will spend the winter with their Florida crane relatives.

Florida Sandhill Cranes have lost much of their habitat to development and agriculture. Thus, they are often seen on golf courses, at airports, and in neighborhoods where there is a bounty of turf grubs, acorns, earthworms, and mole crickets. Here they are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning, vehicular accidents, entanglement in powerlines, and predation by cats and dogs.

Please do not feed Sandhill Cranes. It is illegal to intentionally or unintentionally feed them. They will quickly become habituated to human conditions. Remove birdseed if Sandhill Cranes discover your feeder. Nature provides plenty of healthy food.

Flamingo (American)

American Flamingo

The American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) stands 3-5 feet tall with a wingspan of up to 50 inches. The bright pink color comes from a diet of snails, crustaceans, crabs, and algae. Without this specific diet, they would turn gray.

The most unusual thing about Flamingos is their tongues. The tongue is encased in the lower jaw and does not move. It squeezes mud through structures in the bill called lamellae. Lamellae act as a strainer to extract insects, brine shrimp, algae, and other small prey.

There has been some debate on whether or not Flamingos are native to Florida. If they are spotted, they are usually considered escapees from captive flocks. During the 1800s, flamingos were considered native to Florida. John James Audubon came explicitly to see Flamingos on his 1830 visit to Florida. By the 1900s, Flamingos had almost completely vanished. They were hunted for food, skin, and feathers.

Flamingos are wading birds and can be found around a water source. They have very long, thin necks and legs. Their heads are small, and their bills are large, heavy, and have a crook. Young flamingos have straight bills, but the crook develops as they age.

The Flamingo stands on one leg to conserve heat as their legs have no feathers. Conserving heat is also why they bury their heads in their feathers. It also makes it easier to stand on one leg and reach down into the water with their bills to catch prey.

American Flamingos are monogamous. The flock will mate simultaneously so the eggs will hatch collectively. The flock protects the young from predators. The mated pair will make a mound of mud, and the female will lay one egg, which is between 3 to 3 1/2 inches long. It hatches in 27 to 31 days. Hatchlings are born white and turn pink within two years. Both parents produce a crop of milk in their upper digestive tract, which they feed to the young until they begin to eat solid food.
Florida has removed Flamingos from the non-native list. Hopefully, flamingos will regain their native species’ status and become subject to federal and state protections.

Conservation efforts to protect Flamingos will be necessary to ensure these birds continue to survive even as they face increasing threats from habitat loss, pollution, and invasive predators. This historical population is in the very beginnings of a recovery. When we work together, we will ensure American Flamingos will not become extinct.

Photo Credit: Paul Waller Natureboy Photography and Lynn Marie

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are the most common hummingbirds found in Florida. Black-chinned and rufous hummingbirds occasionally visit Florida in the winter. You can observe Ruby-throated hummingbirds at the edges of woods and in city parks. They are common in flower gardens where they seek out their favorite tubular flowers. With their long bills and tongues, hummingbirds are equipped to reach the delicious nectar that lies deep within the flower.

Females produce 1-2 broods each year. After the male courtship, the female builds a nest surrounded by a leafy cover. Be sure to look for these tiny nests before trimming your shrubs. The incubation of two eggs takes 11-16 days. The busy mother hummingbird may begin to build a second nest while continuing to feed her young ones in the first nest. The babies take flight at 20-22 days old.

Take a few minutes to watch a Ruby-throated Hummingbird sip nectar from a flower in your garden. Their tiny wings beat more than 50 times per second as they hover while feeding. Can you spot a hummingbird snatching a tiny insect from the air or a leaf for dessert?

Source: Audubon, UF
Photo credit: Andy Waldo

Swallow-tailed Kite

Swallow-tailed Kites (Elanoides forficatus) arrive in Florida in early March. They begin their breeding rituals high in the sky. The mated pair will build a nest of sticks, Spanish moss, and lichen near the top of a tall tree. Here they will share the task of incubating 1-3 eggs for about a month.

After hatching, the mother Swallow-tailed Kite will stay at the nest with the young and feed them the food that the father brings for all of them. After a few weeks, both the male and female will leave the nest to bring food back to their hungry chicks. The little ones will begin exploring the tree at about 5 weeks and will make their first flight at 5-6 weeks.

These striking raptors are hard to miss with their black forked tails, and brilliant white heads contrast their ebony bodies. They are most often found gliding through the sky over forests near rivers or open pine forests near marshes and prairies.

When you see a Swallow-tailed Kite soaring through the sky, watch as they twist their tail and swoop near trees and over lower plants. They will often snatch an animal off of a branch or leaf without slowing down. Their favorite foods include lizards, snakes, birds, frogs, and dragonflies.

In early July, Swallow-tailed Kites will gather in large communal roosts. They are dependent on lowland forests to supply the nourishment and calories they need before embarking on their 5000-mile journey to the tropical forests of southern Brazil, where they will spend the winter.

Photo Credit: flying Andy Waldo
Photo Credit: close up, Don Faulkner / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Red-headed Woodpecker

It’s spring in Central Florida. While sauntering through a pine savannah, you catch a streak of red out of the corner of your eye. When you look that way, it’s gone. You catch another glimpse, but just as fast, it’s gone. Finally, it lands on a pine tree. It’s a beautiful red-headed woodpecker!

These fascinating little birds are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have different appearances. The female is a plain brown and grey color while the male is a vibrant black, white, and red. They are monogamous and will stay together for years.

The red-headed woodpecker is a resident of open forests from Canada to Florida and west to Texas. They reside year-round in Florida in pine forests with open forest floors, in orchards, and tall trees in neighborhoods.

Red-headed woodpeckers are cavity nesters and require dead trees or limbs where they excavate their nests. They prefer open areas, including recently burned sites. Both will take part in creating the nest, however, most of the handwork is done by the male. Both the male and female incubate 4-5 eggs and share feeding the young.

Food is plentiful for this omnivorous bird. Red-headed woodpeckers dine on insects, spiders, earthworms, as well as fruit, seeds, and berries. In the fall, these smart woodpeckers gather nuts and store them in crevices and holes for winter nourishment.

Sadly, these birds have experienced over a 70% decline in population since the 1960s. With tree removal becoming a more common practice in urban areas and forest management, these birds are left with few places to raise their young. If you have a dead tree in your yard that isn’t causing a safety problem, you may consider leaving it be. Perhaps you will get some lovely new neighbors who will entertain you for hours.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

Carolina Wren

Quietly sit outside, and you will likely see a pair of busy Caroline Wrens. They are common in backyards and open woods. Listen, and you will hear their song, often with the male producing resonant melodies while the female chirps along.

Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) dine on caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, larvae, and other insects, as well as fruit, seeds, and berries. They use their bills to search for food while hopping or flying on or near the ground. They forage together near the safety of shrubs or bushes in gardens, thickets, brush piles, barks of trees and limbs, and may occasionally stop at your birdfeeder for a treat.

Mated for life, Carolina Wrens will defend their permanent territory. They work together to construct their nest where they will raise 3 broods of 4-8 young each year. Their nests can be found in tree holes, branches, stumps, and brushes. They can also be found in mailboxes, window boxes, garages, artificial wreaths hung on your front door, and a variety of other human-provided safe nesting spots. The couple builds the nest out of twigs, leaves, and weeds with a side opening and oftentimes, with a domed roof. The female lines the nest with soft materials of grass, moss, feathers, animal hair, and/or snakeskin. The male brings meals to the female while she incubates the eggs for two weeks. Both parents feed the chicks for two weeks before they leave the nest.

Has a Carolina Wren pair claimed your yard as their permanent territory?

Photo Credit Andy Waldo

House Sparrow

House sparrows were introduced at various stages throughout New York (Barrows 1889), Maine, Massachusetts, and Nova Scotia. Some of these releases were a sentimental connection to the homeland of many European immigrants. Others were to help control cankerworms or linden moths(Marshall 2014). In some cases, the release of house sparrows failed and the birds died without breeding. One of the more successful attempts was in Nova Scotia. This population spread and the presence of other populations in the U.S. Northeastern states may have helped them thrive.

Today, house sparrows have spread throughout all of the United States, most of Mexico, and the southern parts of Canada. They have even made their way to South America. In most regions, they are considered an invasive species due to their aggressive and territorial tenancies. They will even go to such extremes as to damage the nests of other birds. They out-compete many native birds for food and reproduce at a rapid rate making them difficult to control. Oddly enough, many places in Europe are seeing declines in house sparrow populations. The United Kingdom has a 71% reduction since the mid-1990s. This decline has been linked to avian malaria and areas of increased nitrogen dioxide. Italy experienced a 49% decline in house sparrow populations from reductions in nesting sites, reduced food availability, and possible disease. Paris reported a 12.4% reduction by year primarily due to city gentrification. Yet, these birds continue to thrive in North America.

One way you can help is by providing a nesting box for house sparrows. If eggs are laid you can simply poke them with a pin to prevent the eggs from further developing. Removing the eggs entirely can cause the female to produce more eggs at a faster rate. Removing an entire nest could force sparrows into more wild landscapes and could pose a greater threat to native birds. While we might never be able to fully eradicate house sparrows from Florida, it never hurts to try and reduce the growing population.

House Sparrows are sexually dimorphic with the male having a classic black mask across his eyes. The photos below show a male (Left) and female (Right).

Photo credit: Aymee Laurain
Reference:
Barrows, W.B. (1889). “The English Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America, Especially in its Relations to Agriculture”. United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy Bulletin (1).

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.182197

https://www.theguardian.com/…/pollutionwatch-city-sparrows-…

https://www.researchgate.net/…/230139769_Recent_declines_in…

Malher, F. and Maintigneux, P., 2019, The House Sparrow in Paris: decline and monitoring, AGIR pour la biodiversité.

Viera Wetlands

– Viera Wetlands –

One mile of shoreline, wildflowers, and birds draw over 200,000 people each year to the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands which is commonly known as Viera Wetlands. Named in honor of a long-time Brevard County employee and awarded a grant by the Florida Wildflower Foundation, the wetlands are a popular destination for ecotourists, birders, photographers, and wildflower enthusiasts.

There are 200 acres to explore at Viera Wetlands. Walk or bike around the berms. Enjoy the scenery from your car as you leisurely drive no more than 10 mph along the one way, unpaved road. (The road is occasionally closed to vehicles when too wet.) Revel in the beauty of wildflowers along the banks of the lakes and ponds. Notice the different plants in dry areas as well as those in wet areas. The plants work together to stabilize the soils without the need for fertilizers and irrigation. What pollinators will you discover?

Birds abound at Viera Wetlands which is included in the Great Florida Birding Trail. Get a better view of the wetlands from the observation tower. Keep your eyes open otters, marsh rabbits, and raccoons who make their homes there along with an abundance of amphibians and reptiles. Look for beautiful butterflies and striking Painting Buntings.

For more information, click here: https://viera.com/attractions/viera-wetlands…

-Photo Credit – Andy Waldo

Double-crested Cormorant

The Double-crested Cormorant is also known as The Sea Raven. Cormorant is derived from the Latin word Corvus, which means raven, and Marinus, which means sea.

Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritu) are brownish-black with black webbed feet and legs and a reddish-orange face and beak. You will often find them floating low in the water or with their wings outstretched along the shores of coastal areas, rivers, swamps, and lakes. Because their oil glands do not waterproof their rings, cormorants will find a sunny spot to dry their wings.

Cormorants may feed alone or in flocks. Finding their favorite foods, fish, and invertebrates, like shrimp and crabs, may require them to dive up to 60 feet and remain submerged for more than a minute. Cormorants are not picky eaters, and their diets vary by season. They enjoy treats such as eels, plants, frogs, and an occasional snake.

Courtship is a big deal for Sea Ravens. A Male will use his wings to splash, swim in zig-zag patterns, and dive for vegetation to present to a female. He will crouch at his chosen nest site and call out to his desired female while vibrating his wings. Nesting usually takes place in a large colony, which is sometimes shared with other wading birds. Using twigs, sticks, seaweed, and grass collected mostly by the male, the female constructs most of the nest in a tree or on the ground near the water. Cormorants incubate their 3-4 eggs with their webbed feet. Both the male and female will feed the chicks until they are about 10 weeks old and ready to leave the nest.

Before 1966 populations significantly decreased from hunting and pesticides such as DDT. Today, cormorants are once again widespread and abundant. This heartwarming story of the Sea Ravens, who not only survived persecution from humans but who are now thriving, can be repeated with today’s endangered and threatened animals. It’s up to us to teach folks of all ages to connect, respect, and coexist with our wildlife and within our shared ecosystems.

Black Skimmers

Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger) are seen flying low to the water with the lower part of their bills skimming the water for food. Their bills are wide at the top and come to the point. When a skimmer senses a fish in the longer, lower mandible of its bill, the upper part instantly snaps shut.

Striking and easily recognizable, skimmers are medium-sized tern-like seabirds with red and black bills and a 3 to 3.5 feet wingspan. They have black wings with white edging, black backs, and a white underside and head. Black skimmers inhabit coastal areas such as beaches, estuaries, and sandbars.

Breeding and roosting occur between May and early September in colonies of up to several hundred pairs. Skimmers lay three to five eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 23-25 days. Skimmers are protective parents, and the colony acts as a village when it mobs a predator as a group in an effort to protect nests—the young fly at 28-30 days old. A successful colony will use the same nest site next year.

Black skimmers are threatened in Florida and are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Coastal development and human activity without regard to seabirds pose the biggest threat. Predators such as crows, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, and feral hogs find skimmer eggs and chicks to be a delicious meal. Pets, beach driving, recreational activity, oil spills, shoreline hardening, and more cause parents to abandon their nests. Sea level rise poses another threat to the black skimmer population.

With all of these threats, most of the colonies in Florida are managed by local land managers and volunteers. Documented black skimmer colonies in Florida are managed with fencings and/or informational signs.

With your help, black skimmers can make a successful comeback. Heed the signs you see while at the beach. Call the number on the signs at a beach near you and volunteer to make a difference. Let’s all do what we can now to protects these beautiful Florida seabirds.

Photos courtesy of FWC and Kon Studio

Turkey Buzzard

Let’s talk about the Turkey Buzzard (Cathartes aura), nature’s sanitation engineer, and when joined by friends, the ultimate clean-up crew.

Turkey Buzzards are also known as Turkey Vultures. They have black or dark brown feathers, and their featherless heads and necks have pink skin. They are between 25 to 32 inches in length and weigh up to 6 pounds. They have a wingspan of 54 inches.

Turkey vultures use thermal currents to float on the warm air currents without flapping their wings, conserving energy. They will travel 30 to 50 miles on these currents in search of food. Their bills and feet are not designed to catch prey, and they prefer to eat fresh roadkill and other carrion.

The Turkey Buzzard has a keener sense of smell than other birds. They can smell the chemical breakdown of carrion from a mile away and will float and follow the aroma until they find it. Their bald, featherless heads make it safer for them to stick their heads deep into the carrion, and nothing will stick to the smooth skin.

As carrion eaters, many consider Turkey Buzzards spooky and harbingers of death. If you see one of these vultures circling above you, it doesn’t mean you are about to die. These Buzzards have a unique and ecological role because they prevent the spread of disease from rotting carrion by eating it.

Since they have weak legs and cannot carry food back to their young, they will gorge on a carcass and regurgitate to feed the young. They will also urinate on their legs and feet to cool off. Their urine kills any parasites and bacteria from walking and standing on the carcasses. When threatened, they will vomit to lighten their body weight to escape as a defense mechanism against predators.

Turkey vultures are highly social. They will fly in a small group and breed annually with the same mate. The vulture can be found in pastures, landfills, or anywhere they can find carrion. Eggs are laid on the ground in dense thickets, scrub areas, hollow logs, caves, or old buildings. The Turkey Buzzard lays between one to four clutches from March to July. Their eggs hatch in 35 to 40 days, and the nesting period is 55 to 90 days.

Vultures are a protected species, which means that interfering with them physically has legal repercussions.

Robin

Robins

* Robins prefer cooler temperatures, which is why they fly north to escape the southern heat.
* Robins will start to migrate back north when they feel a 37-degree average daily isotherm ( ground temperature above 37*).
* Male robins will arrive at their northern destinations about 2 weeks earlier than the females. This gives them time to claim their territory.
* Robins do not mate for life; however, the male will stay to help feed his chicks.
*Chicks leave the nest in August and live to be 5-6 years old.
* Robins begin to migrate south when the temperature causes the ground to become too hard to dig for earthworms, their main food source.
* Robins will resort to eating berries and insects until that food supply starts to dwindle.
* During migration, robins can fly up to 36 mph and cover 100-200 miles a day.
*Winter months are spent in Florida, southern Louisiana, southern Texas, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, Southern California, and northern Mexico.
* Most robins migrate intermediate distances but some have migrated from Vancouver to as far south as Guatemala.

As the temperature warms in our neighboring states, robins will begin to make their way across Florida. Keep an eye on your birdbath. A flock of robins just might stop by for a quick dip and drink.

Black Vulture

The Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, is smaller than the Turkey Vulture, although it still is a large raptor. They have a dull black head and body with wrinkles covering their head and face. The tips of their bills are gray, and their legs are pale white. Black Vultures have a wingspan of 54 inches, and their wings have white tips on the underside. They weigh 3 to 5 pounds and stand 22 inches tall. While in flight, they will hold their wings flat and flap them more often than the Turkey Vulture.

Black Vultures are monogamous, often not straying far from their mate. Females will lay 1 to 4 egg clutches between February and June in caves, hollow logs, or thickets. Although they do not build nests, they will dig a hollow and put vegetation around to secure. The nesting period can be up to 100 days, with the eggs hatching within 40 days. Together, they will feed their young for up to 8 months. This dependence helps establish the strong social bonds these birds exhibit.

As carrion eaters, they are often found in landfills or along roadways where they feed on roadkill. They will usually return to known food sources instead of actively hunting. Black Vultures do not have the keen sense of smell that other vultures have and must find their food by sight. You will find them roosting in tall trees or on electrical pylons where they can easily spot food in open areas.

The Black Vulture is protected under Federal Law and can not be killed without a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

Cooper’s Hawk

The Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is widely known and dispersed throughout the U.S., lower Canada, and Mexico. Look for this raptor with its steel-gray back and reddish barred chest in wooded areas and in neighborhoods. This stealth hunter can be seen flying through thick canopies of trees or gliding low to the ground to grab its prey in a split second. Medium-sized birds such as robins and jays make up most of their diet, They will also dine on rats, mice, squirrels, bats, and an occasional lizard or snake.

Male Cooper’s hawks build the nest in a tall tree. Brood size is 2 – 6 eggs. Males provide food for the female and chicks for more than 3 months until the young fledge. Cooper’s Hawk eggs and hatchlings are susceptible to being food for other animals like raccoons and raptors. When there is a threat near their nest, you will hear them ka-ka-ka-ka.

The Cooper’s Hawk was declining in population throughout the U.S. due to hunting and pesticide use. Since DDT has been banned and hunting has been curbed, populations have become stable.

Cooper’s Hawks will often take up residence in a neighborhood where birdfeeders are present. If a Cooper’s Hawk is finding easy prey with the birds at your feeder, remove the feeder until the hawk has moved on.

Photo Credit: Dan Kon

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