A Birdwatcher's Guide to the Everglades

A Beginner Birdwatcher's Guide to the Florida Everglades

Are you visiting the Everglades but you have little to no experience recognizing local birds?  Well this is a quick beginners guide to bird identification for you!  Just a quick background: the Everglades can only be found in Florida and are a nature reserve housing many different ecosystems such as sea grass fields, mangrove swamps, Cyprus forests, and pinelands all connected by water.  After human development shrank it to one third of its original size, the area is now being preserved and plans are in the process to try to rebuild it back to its past glory.  

Here are some of the most commonly seen birds in the Florida Everglades.

Anhinga 
Identified by their signature long S shaped neck with a long, sharp, yellow beak.  These birds are found flying or swimming around attempting to stab their prey.  Males are black with silver wings while females have a much lighter head and torso.  
Fun Fact: Unlike ducks, Anhinga feathers are not water proof so they do not float which allows them to easily dive down for food.

 




Double Crested Cormorant 
Identified by dark black feathers with an orange face and tan beak.  Commonly mistaken for loons or geese because of their S shaped neck; they are known for their hunting style of diving for fish.  
Fun Fact: If these birds stay in one place for too long, their accumulated fecal matter can kill the tree they nest in.  

 


Short Tailed Hawk
Identified by its yellow legs, square tail, with distinctive dark tops and white bellies.  However, these birds of prey can come in dark and lighter forms, but the darker version is more common.
Fun Fact: in North America, these are only found in Florida.

Swallow Tailed Kite
Identified predominantly by its dramatically forked tail, this bird flies with ease and shows off its dramatic white and black coloration.
Fun Fact: These birds have a wide ranging diet from wasps and fire ants to lizards and even snakes!

 

Great Horned Owl
Identified by their two tufts of feathers atop their heads and their giant yellow eyes.  They tend to be bulky because of their round head and stubby beak as well as from a stocky body covered in feathers for warmth.  
Fun Fact: Instead of moving their eyes, these birds can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees in order to spot their prey.  







Links for more info
This is the National Everglades Website     https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm
Want to ID more birds? Click Here              https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse

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