Hey guys Harrison the
resident Birdman here, todays post is gonna be all about the dope birds we've
been seeing down here in the awesome Florida Keys, whether spotted out
the vans window while listening to TA Mike sing some ACDC or over at the Blue
Hole in Big Pine Key. There's an amazing diverse range of species
down here with a decent amount of familiar faces including our first spotlight
of the night!
Lets hear it for our fish
hunting, talon wielding, absolute unit of a hawk, the one and
only...
OSPREY
This
majestic member of the Raptors is known to hunt nearly exclusively on
fish, what a pescatarian huh? A cool side note, they carry fish away with the
head facing forward since its more Aerodynamic. These birds are so unique
that taxonomists were like hol’ up, we can’t just shove these guys in with
those boring hawks over in family Accipitridae; no no, they deserve better,
so they got their own family made for them Pandionidae. The mighty
Osprey dominates the globe for raptors with a range only beaten by the
peregrine falcon. You may think oh, that's not impressive Harrison; well guess
what? Only SIX other land-birds have a worldwide
distribution. I could go on and on about these majestic birds but I’m
gonna stop here and let you guys read up on the Osprey; which in case you
forgot, is our schools mascot.
Following
up on those big guys is going to be tough, but lets go with something slightly
more rare and only found down here in the tropics.
Roseate
Spoonbill
So
starting things off these birds are hecking hard to find down here. I haven’t seen
one yet; but you better guess I’m on the hunt for spotting one during my trip down
here. Anyways here’s some quick facts to chew on. Tall and pink, the Spoonbill
has a big paddle like bill. Feeding in shallow waters much like other long-legged
species, the Roseate Spoonbill sort of sifts through the water swaying
its bill side to side sifting through the mud so it can get some delicious
food. Its prey? Mostly crustaceans, insects, and extremely small fish. Unlike the
previous spotlight, these guys mostly operate down in the warm tropics, including
south Florida, the Caribbean, and the Gulf Coast.
Lastly
for today I can’t forget to mention a bird our Team got up and close with.
Green
Heron
Another
fish lover, the Green Heron is a lot smaller than is relative the Great
White Heron. They reside mostly in the southern portion of North America
along wetlands and pretty much any shallow body of water. Sporting an awesome green
and brown coloration, you’ll know when you’re looking at one. They are shy
birds known to be secretive, but a good birder knows to look among the dense
vegetation for its bright golden eyes. Generally they reproduce between March
and July, much to Team #3’s luck as we spotted some fledglings and chicks today
over at Blue Hole. According to a local bird enthusiast, these fledglings
were at the point that they leave the nest to explore and fly, only returning
to get some food from mom… that sounds like every college student ever!
For
more information on birds go check out http://animalia.bio/birds
or https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/
If
you want to plan a birding trip of your own, make sure to stop by Blue Hole to
see some birds (and I guess some mammals like the Key Deer) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/blue-hole-freshwater-lake
Harrison,
ReplyDeleteI never see someone so passionate about birds. However, I found Roseate Spoonbill very interesting. Its very cool how it sifts the water around to find food. It reminds me of those sand sifters that kids use at the beach.
I like how much you love birds and how quickly you can identify them by just looking at them for a few seconds. I also like how you chose to discuss three different species of birds, one being our school's mascot. I feel that there is a great deal of information about each bird species without being difficult to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed learning about the Stockton mascot, I found it interesting how they will fly with the head of the fish facing out for better aerodynamics. I wonder how they know which way is best for the fish to position but it may be down to experience.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting to learn more about the birds that we were looking at. I was really intrigued by the green heron because we saw the hatchlings that were only a couple days old and then we found one that was three weeks old and they were so different in size.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised with how much i enjoyed learning about the birds that inhabit the keys! The Spoonbill was really cool and i was really surprised with how they eat and found it really interesting that they sort of sift for their food. They also remind me a lot of flamingos due to their color and general shape. It was also cool to see a osprey, a bird that is also local too the Jersey coast. The ospreys here look alot like if not identical to the ospreys that we have live on the jersey coast.
ReplyDeleteYour passion for birds is inspiring, to be well knowledgeable on them to the point of being able to distinguish them is fascinating. I look forward to more posts
ReplyDelete