birds

Sora

Soras, Porzana Carolina, are chubby little birds who spend most of their time hidden in marshes. Their distinctive whistles can be heard often near ponds, rivers, and other marshy areas. When they finally appear, Soras move their heads forward with each step and flick their tails to expose the white undersides. They are striking birds with a black mask and a bright yellow bill.

After the male and female complete their courting ritual, the couple builds a nest of grasses and dead cattails before adding a soft lining. The nest is well hidden in the dense marsh, often among cattails, and is placed a few inches above the water. Incubation begins as soon as the first of 10-12 eggs are laid. As the eggs hatch, one parent will incubate the remaining eggs while the other will care for the hatchlings who leave the nest. Both parents will feed the hatchlings for 3 weeks before the young ones learn to fly.

Soros dine on a variety of foods. Seeds, insects, snails, and aquatic invertebrates are some of their favorite foods. They forage on the ground, in the water, on plants, and in the mud.

Have you heard a Sora? Listen Here:
http://www.azfo.org/…/…/AZFO_SORA_CALLS_2_deviche_092405.mp3

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

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Purple Gallinule

Plumage in shades of purple, teal, indigo, and olive, along with a yellow-tipped red bill and bright yellow legs, make this bird hard to miss. Purple gallinules (Porphyrio martinicus) are noisy rails that are most often found near freshwater marshes, ponds, and swamps. You may find them swimming, walking on lily pads, or in the branch of a tree.

In the spring and summer, a pair of Purple Gallinules will build one or more nests at or above the water level. The nests are supported by strong vegetation at the water’s edge and are made of grasses, cattails, and other vegetation found nearby. Raising babies is a family affair. Both the male and female incubate 5-10 eggs for 22-25 days. Once hatched, the mother, father, and older siblings help feed the babies until they are 9 weeks old and able to fly.

Purple Gallinules are omnivorous. You may find them pecking the ground like a chicken as they forage along the shore for fruit, seeds, insects, worms, or snails. They will nod their head in the water while looking for tasty aquatic greens or a fish dinner.

When you see a Purple Gallinule, spend some time watching this gorgeous bird with quirky movements. Note how their feathers appear to change color when they move from sunshine to shade. You will be amazed at how the Purple Gallinule’s brilliant colors perfectly blend into Florida’s wetlands.

Photo Credit: Andy Waldo

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Old Miakka Preserve

Old Miakka Preserve

Named after a settlement in the 1840s, Old Miakka Preserve contains four miles of trails, including scrub habitat, pinewood flatwood, and wetlands. The preserve is abundant in flowering plants with numerous pollinators and occasional gopher tortoises. One of the trails is named after Horticulturalist Tim Cash, who spent years studying plants within the preserve. If you are looking for a calm trail with lots of sunshine and flowers, visit Old Miakka Preserve in Sarasota, FL.

For more information: https://www.scgov.net/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/547/4327?cftype=FacilityDirectory

Photo credit: Aymee Laurain

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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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Canaveral National Seashore

Playalinda Beach at Canaveral National Seashore

Imagine spending a day at the seashore, a day free of condos, hotels, and tourists. A day where you can be one with nature in a place where you feel the power of the ocean, hear the pounding of the waves and share all of that glory with only your friends and the wildlife who make their home there.

There is a little-known gem in Florida known as Playalinda Beach. It is a part of Canaveral National Seashore. Take a trip to Titusville, go east on Garden Street, and continue driving east until you reach the beach. The ocean is not visible from your car. As you drive parallel to the ocean, you will see sand dunes on your right. There are 13 parking areas, each with its own boardwalk. Any of the boardwalks will lead you over the sand dunes where the ocean in all of its magnificence will appear before your eyes.

There you will meet some of the 310 species of birds found at Canaveral National Seashore, including migratory birds, who will enjoy the beach with you. If you are lucky, you may meet a loggerhead, green or leatherback sea turtle who makes her nest in the sand or hatchlings as they make their way to the ocean. Enjoy your day swimming, surfing, sunbathing, fishing, and bird watching.

Stop along the way to or from the beach and explore by car or on foot, some of Canaveral National Seashore ecosystems. These include a barrier island, offshore waters, lagoon, coastal hammock, and pine flatwoods. Outdoor experiences include canoeing, kayaking, boating, hiking, camping, and historical trails.

There is an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers at Cape Canaveral National Seashore. Keep your eyes open for bobcats, raccoons, and more. Look for beautiful flowers and the pollinators among them. We hope you encounter some of the threatened species who make their homes there. You may see Florida scrub-jays, Southern bald eagles, wood storks, peregrine falcons, eastern indigo snakes, and manatees.

Take a day, or two, or three, and immerse yourself in the beauty of natural Florida, the way nature intended it to be.

 

 

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Spring Hammock Preserve

Once known as Devil’s bend, Spring Hammock Preserve is made up of several ecosystems including a hydric hammock, cypress dome, floodplain forest, mesic flatwoods, and scrubby flatwoods. It is a wetland and watershed area that acts as a natural filtering system for Soldier’s Creek Drainage Basin which eventually drains into Lake Jesup.

Located in Seminole County, Old Bear Trail which is now known as County Road (CR) 427, runs through Spring Hammock Preserve. The preserve is accessible from County Road 419. The Senator, the world’s largest living cypress tree made its home here for over 3,500 years before being burnt down by a human.

On the hiking trails, you may encounter wildlife such as gopher tortoises and alligators. If you are lucky, you may even see an indigo snake who makes his home here. Bird viewing opportunities include migrating birds as well as wood storks, limpkins, snowy egrets, and bald eagles who share space at the preserve. Trees in the preserve include longleaf pine, loblolly pine, slash pine, scrub oak, sweetgum, and bald cypress. Be on the lookout for native plants such as the Florida willow, Okeechobee gourd, and cuplet fern.

Make a plan to get outside and explore natural Florida.
You will be surprised at what you will discover.

Photo credit: Andy Waldo

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Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park

Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park

There’s something for everyone at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park!

Nature trails, birding, equestrian trails, biking, walking, jogging, camping, cabins, picnic areas, horseshoe games, volleyball court, pavilions, and playgrounds assure your entire family will enjoy their day. You can even bring your dog on a 6-foot leash to the hiking or paved bike trail.

You can easily spend an entire day here as you explore this beautiful park of 8,300 acres located in New Port Richey. Take your time as you wander through the wilderness and discover an abundance of wild plants and animals who make their home there. Leave your cares behind while you spend quality time with your family and friends reconnecting with nature. Get Outside. Explore. Discover.

Learn more and/or make reservations here:
https://www.pascocountyfl.net/…/Jay-B-Starkey-Wilderness-Pa…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Eastern Bluebird

The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is part of the songbird family of thrushes. Once declining at an alarming rate due to introduced species, pesticides, and habitat loss, Eastern bluebirds have made a stirring comeback. The population increase has been aided by birdhouses built especially for the bluebirds along bluebird trails.

Eastern bluebirds prefer open habitat, which is near trees. These areas include forest clearings, burned areas, savannas, pastures, parks, and golf courses.

Male bluebirds flutter and sing to attract a female. The new couple will find a tree with a cavity such as an old woodpecker hole or a birdhouse. The female does most of the nest building and will loosely construct a nest of twigs and grasses lined with softer material such as feathers, animal hairs, or fine grass. There she will lay 3-7 pale blue or white eggs.

Incubation takes 13-16 days and is mostly by the female. When the nestlings are born, both parents will feed their young. Since Eastern bluebirds have 2-3 broods per year, it is not unusual to see a young bird from a previous brood help with feeding. Meals consist of a wide variety of insects. They also enjoy berries, earthworms, and snails.

Eastern bluebirds are monogamous while nesting but can be found in small flocks during the rest year. We hope a flock of bluebirds will fly over the rainbow and visit all of you this year.

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Florida Grasshopper Sparrow

The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum A. s. floridanus) is one of the most endangered birds in Florida, with less than 50 breeding pairs left in the wild. A subspecies of the Grasshopper Sparrow, the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, has darker and more gray tones in its plumage and is the only grasshopper sparrow that breeds in Florida. They weigh no more than one ounce as adults. Their coloration and habit of living and nesting in the grass make them almost invisible. The sparrow forages on the ground for small invertebrates, grasshoppers, and seeds. The Sparrow’s nest is concealed under vegetation. Still, they are extremely vulnerable to predation by snakes, birds of prey, crows, rodents, raccoons, skunks, armadillos, opossums, coyotes, fire ants, and box turtles. Females incubate three to five eggs for approximately 12 days. Chicks leave the nest at around eight days old but will stay in the area and be fed by the parents for a few weeks. The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow’s decline began in the 1970s when native prairie grasslands were converted to cattle grazing pastures, sod production, and other agricultural uses. The Florida Grasshopper Sparrow responds well to restoration efforts. Current conservation efforts in Florida to restore native grasslands and breeding programs may help this critically endangered bird recover.

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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

 

 

 

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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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Boat-tailed Grackle

This beautiful male Boat-tailed Grackle is on the lookout at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. He is a permanent resident of Florida. The bright sun makes the beautiful iridescence of his feathers glow for all to enjoy. Females have a brownish coloration and a smaller tail. Boat-tailed Grackles breed abundantly in salt and freshwater marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These birds forage on the ground, in shallow water, or in shrubs. They eat arthropods, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, turtles, lizards, grain, seeds, fruit, and tubers. At times they have been known to steal food from other birds, animals, and humans. They overturn shells and stones with their beaks, dunk their heads in water to catch their prey, and pry open mussel shells. Just like us, they will dunk food like rice, dogfood, or bread before eating it.


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Pileated Woodpeckers

Did you know that the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is one of North America’s largest woodpeckers? It is hard to miss with a black body, a red crest, white stripes on its neck, and black and white stripes on its face. Pileated Woodpeckers love to eat insects, fruits, and nuts. A large part of their diet is made up of carpenter ants and beetle larvae. This is why they are always knocking on trees and wood, sensing a ‘hollow area’ where the insects may be. Once they have located their dinner, they use their bill to drill into the wood and use their long sticky tongues to drag out the insects. Sometimes they will expand the holes they create looking for food and make a roost inside the tree to lay their eggs. Tended by both mom and dad, the little hatchlings will be ready to fledge within 1 month. Males and females are similar, but males have a red forehead, and females have a gray to a yellowish-brown forehead. If you hear knocking outside, be sure to look up and see if you can spot a stunning Pileated Woodpecker.

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Osprey

The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a medium-sized bird of prey that is commonly seen along with coastal habitats within Florida. These birds, also called the Fish Hawks, have a brown upper body, white underside, and a black line across their eyes. They can reach 2 feet in length and have a 6-foot wingspan. These raptors hunt for food by using their keen senses, especially their vision, and kill prey with their talons. This is the only raptor with a reversible toe that can grasp prey with two toes in front and two toes in the back. They will soar high above their prey and dive feet first often submerging themselves to catch their prey. Their feet are barbed to be able to hold on to slippery fish. Osprey nests are large platforms built mainly of large sticks, sod, and grasses high above the ground although they will use any high man-made structure. A female Osprey will be attracted to the male that can provide the best nest. Osprey mate for life and will have between 2 to 4, creamy white blotched brown eggs a year. The eggs do not hatch all at once but will hatch 3 to 5 days apart. They fledge at 8 weeks and reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age. Because of its highly visible nest, the Osprey is a prime indicator species that can be used to monitor habitat conditions, fish populations, and overall environmental health.

Fun Fact: An extinct species of osprey, the Pandion lovensis, was discovered through fossils here in Florida. The fossils dated back to the Tortonian stage of the late Miocene sub-Epoch of the Clarendonian age. That’s about 9 million years ago.  At that time Florida was an island that spanned from the eastern Panhandle and curved down a narrow stretch of the gulf coast to central Florida. During this time temperatures were dropping and the Earth was entering the ice age known as the Quaternary glaciation. This process took approximately 3 million years in which average global temperatures dropped to between 4-7 degrees Celsius. Not all areas had ice. Florida was much cooler but was not part of the freeze. Despite the lack of a freeze, colder conditions may have prevented the ability of Pandion lovensis to survive. 

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