10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida By James • March 8, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by shorebirds.

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Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 225

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Cloud, Florida, Doug, with whom I had been birding all day long, found a Yellow-throated Warbler foraging behind us. The Yellow-throated Warbler is a wood-warbler that breeds almost exclusively in the southeastern United States. They winter in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

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Florida New York City Dominica United States 192

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Amazingly, it was a visiting birder from New York who discovered Neotropic Cormorants breeding in the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Congratulations to Ardith Bondi for the great find !

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10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2016

Take the Florida Scrub-Jay. Photo above by Louise Hunt, courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) At just about 5,000 individuals, Florida’s only exclusive endemic is Endangered. Consequently, their breeding efforts with resident birds produce more and healthier offspring than “inbred” resident-resident pairings.

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Florida California Hunting Research 178

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2014

It is also a good description of the birding in southernmost Florida. Sure, Miami and the Florida Keys do not boast any endemics ( ‘Cape Sable’ Seaside Sparrow is close) at the species level. Few birders realize how many warblers actually do winter in southernmost Florida — even long time birders within the state.

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Florida Miami Stray United States 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

If you have been out birding in southeast Florida there is a good chance that you have run into him in the field. During the winter, southeast Florida becomes the wood-warbler capital of the ABA area. As one can see, seeing twenty warblers in the winter in southeast Florida is well within the realm of possibility! That’s right.

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MAY 16, 2014

Although many South Florida specialties can be seen throughout the year such as White-crowned Pigeon and Snail Kite , most visiting birders decide to come in the months of April and May in search of summer migrants or secretive birds that only vocalize during the breeding season. Migration starts very early in the sunshine state.

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Florida Miami Bahamas Breeders 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Sure, we also have Common Myna and Boat-tailed Grackle which would be pretty special to most who do not live in Florida. Gray Kingbird perched on a Gumbo Limbo Tree, another typical West Indian species native to South Florida. By the end of September, the territorial birds that breed in the local parking lots are gone.

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10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

Breeding only above treeline on windswept and desolate rock faces (or equally austere habitats on the Aleutians), the three American rosy-finches (Gray-crowned, Black, and Brown-capped) are extreme environment specialists that are endemic to North America. In the summer, they are the highest altitude breeding songbird in North America.

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2013

Broward County has one of the highest densities of Burrowing Owls in Florida. The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls. This is unfortunately an all too common problem for these owls in Florida.

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Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 252

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

I always like to see the look of surprise on a visiting birder’s face when I tell them that the Prairie Warblers and Yellow Warblers in southern Florida are restricted to mangrove habitats. Everyone, I would like you to meet the ‘Florida’ Prairie Warbler ( S. Petersburg area on the west coast.

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Florida Miami Breeders Tampa 216

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

Of course, I contacted Carlos Sanchez , alleged south Florida birder extraordinaire, to maximize the returns on what time I could spend. We immediately headed to an undisclosed location where Carlos had breeding Mangrove Cuckoos staked out. It was the first of many problems with Carlos’s guiding. What is it with this guy?

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Florida Miami Birds Owls 144

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AUGUST 5, 2021

Unlike so many other beloved North American bird species, their populations have been relatively stable since the mid-20th century, hovering around 44 million breeding birds. I never tired of watching them, and miss my morning goldfinch ritual now that I’m back in Florida.

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Species United States Florida Birds 264

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JULY 3, 2014

The wood stork was listed as endangered in 1984, because the Florida population was dropping at an approximate rate of 5 percent per year. The wood stork occurs and breeds in Central and South America. As Secretary Jewell put it, it did not take just the Fish and Wildlife Service to get the stork to breed and produce more young.

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10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Miami, Florida has a reputation among the birding community for being overrun with exotic bird species. Common Hill Myna’s range in South Florida. From experience, these primarily frugivorous birds do show local movements that may depend on the local ripening of fruit outside the breeding season. It is well-deserved.

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NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There are two Painted Bunting populations, one that breeds along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida and one that breeds in the interior United States and northern Mexico from southeastern New Mexico to western Mississippi. The Atlantic Coast population lingers on the breeding grounds after nesting to molt.

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Over the last weekend, I was at Lake Kissimmee in Florida, observing Snail Kites at an area kites were not present or rare just a few years ago. The threat of extinction of such iconic Florida bird prompted State and Federal agencies to find solutions to stop and reverse the declining trend. Kites now nest there and are fairly common.

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10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2016

Florida Caverns State Park is known for one, quite obvious thing: the caverns. This fall, I stopped at Florida Caverns with two friends who had never visited before. This tiny species breeds north of Florida but returns to spend the winter here as well as in Central and South America.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021

The logic goes like this: Grey-headed Swamphen are an invasive species that has spread in Florida from a few escapees, and is now fairly widespread in South Florida after initial eradication programs failed. Some people want Grey-headed Swamphens to be gone from Florida (photo taken in China, though).

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APRIL 19, 2013

He now wakes up to the choruses of Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds in sunny Vero Beach, Florida. This photo could have been taken in Florida’s Treasure Coast during the winter months or in South America during the same period. Florida is a rather long state. Photo: Joseph Huaroto. Photo: Alastair Rae.

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APRIL 29, 2014

What we don’t get to hear is them singing, as they seem to only sing once they reach their breeding grounds. Yellow-throated Warblers are another species that tends to overshoot, though recent reports indicate that it might be in the process of establishing a breeding population in New York.

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10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

The invasive Burmese Python ( Python molurus ) is well established in the Florida Everglade. Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Featured Image: Bird Basin Area in South South Florida. Reptiles'

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2012

There I found a study which showed that the ingenious little birds had found a protein source that allowed them to coincide their breeding with times of man-made, rather than natural seasonal abundance. For example, the Nutmeg Munia, Lonchura punctulata , has managed to maintain a presence in California and Florida for some years.

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MARCH 20, 2019

Lying just a few miles north of the entrance to Madera Canyon, is Florida Canyon. Local guides that I have spoken to all say that is the highest number they have ever seen as well, with the thought being that one is a breeding pair and the single, usually found farther down the canyon, is last year’s fledged bird.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

This is perhaps the best place in Florida to find a rare gull for the state and though I had no luck picking a vagrant California Gull out of the teeming hordes I did enjoy myself as much as I did back in 2012. … Birds Daytona Beach Florida gulls Laughing Gull Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival'

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10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2012

Nonetheless, this bird is one of the most interesting species in the avifauna of southeast Florida for many reasons — an interesting biology that parallels that of several pigeon species in the Old World Tropics as well as its limited distribution in the state.

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Florida Miami Bahamas Mexico 192

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2012

Most of the Osprey breeding in North America are migratory, only Florida, the Caribbean and Baja California host non-migratory breeders 1. In migratory populations males usually arrive to breeding grounds a few days before the females and look for nest sites.

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California North America Sacramento Breeders 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

We assembled at nine in the morning in a small parking lot outside the naval base in Key West, Florida. The park is home to not one, not two, but large three colonies of breeding seabirds: the Brown Noddy , Magnificent Frigatebird , and Sooty Tern. Dry Tortugas National Park: Bird Banding Sooty Terns. Lots and lots of birds.

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10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2013

“Out West” to most Floridians might mean California or Arizona or might even refer to the Gulf Coast of Florida. These two water management wetlands are amongst the very best birding and photography locations in south Florida. And this is where magic happens from time to time. If not THE best.

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Factory North America Alligators Trafficking 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2012

In fact, prior to my visit to Florida in January for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, I had never seen an Anhinga at all save one lousy look in Honduras back in 2009. And their plumage, especially their breeding finery, is a sight to see. And, like cormorants, they provide a nice photo-op when doing so.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Southern Florida offers many unique wintering birds, but perhaps none more so then the sparrows that call different parts of Florida their winter homes. Although, these birds in Florida are pretty far south. Their population is currently stable among the arctic regions where they breed. I prefer a little sweat first.

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South Dakota Florida Sparrows Wildlife 182

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2015

I have now officially moved to the Emerald Coast of Florida, a beautiful region on the Florida Panhandle. I am within one of Florida’s sub-tropical zones, and my birding experiences have expanded, with life birds galore. The largest of the three species was the Ruddy Turnstone , in between its breeding and non-breeding plumage.

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Florida Mice Birds Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

The brilliant orange coloration and rich, haunting song of the Spot-breasted Oriole ( Icterus pectoralis ) makes this species one of my favorite permanent residents in southeastern Florida, even though it is an introduced exotic. How can an introduced species be a favorite among birders? Don’t they compete with native birds?

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Miami Costa Rica Florida 2005 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

On a recent filming trip to Emeralda Marsh in Lake County Florida we managed to film and photograph a suspected hybrid between a Tricolored Heron and a Snowy Egret. As early as 1954 a suspected Little Blue Heron/Snowy Egret hybrid was reported from Florida. Hybrids between separate species are rare.

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Arizona Florida Cattle California 193

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

My number one choice at the time was Egyptian Goose ( Alopochen aegyptiacus ), an adaptable sheldgoose from Africa that was rapidly becoming established in peninsular Florida. In 2014, the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC) voted to add this species to the Florida state list. They are excellent parents!

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Pelagic birding off the Atlantic coast of Florida can be a frustrating experience, usually involving long waits of up to an hour or more interspersed with brief flurries of activity — a far cry from pelagic birding off of coasts blessed with cold water currents and nutrient rich upwelling such as California, southeast Australia, and Peru.

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Florida United States Fish 2005 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2012

You find them in the south from Florida to Texas and down into Mexico, occasionally as far north as the Carolinas in the east and up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois. It is one of several species in the Mallard -complex of ducks, along with American Black Duck , Mexican Duck , and quite a few others.

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Ducks Illinois Florida Mississippi 185