Naples Florida Weekly
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Ditch BIRDS of South Florida

Extraordinary birds hang out along South Florida semirural roads, in city centers, on golf courses, lawns, in ponds, creeks and in ditches



Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

AS YOU DRIVE BY CANALS along city roads, stroll through a park or find yourself near a retention pond at a big-box store, you may have noticed there are some extraordinary looking birds hanging out there. Is it a crane? A heron? Or what?

Here’s a guide to many of our avian neighbors who, with a little luck and a curious eye, you might observe near you in South Florida. Many are elegant wading birds, the kind who typically come equipped with skinny legs and dexterous toes, long shapely bills, and sometimes thin yet still powerful necks, the Audubon Society writes, the better to forage for food.

Human development continues to encroach on animal habitat and these species increasingly live and feed along semi-rural roads, in city centers, on golf courses, lawns, in ponds, creeks and in the ditch running through your yard — wherever there may be some substitute for the pristine marshes and wetlands they enjoy in parks or environmentally protected areas.

In any case, observing birds brings its own rewards. It might even improve your health, whether you’re watching from your lanai or wading through a swamp.

¦ Killdeer

¦ Killdeer

“It’s very enlightening and calming,” said Punta Gorda resident Ron Mills, a retired naturalist and president of Peace River Audubon Society. “It’s our form of yoga.”

More information

You can look up and find more information about all the birds on this list and many more, including recordings of their vocal sounds and a record of locations where they have been sighted, on The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website, www.AllAboutBirds.org.

If you’d like to share your sightings and find out where others have seen birds, Cornell’s website and mobile app, at www.eBird.org, offers up-to-date resources.

To get more involved with birding and a community who loves birds, check out your local Audubon Society on Facebook and on their websites.

¦ In Charlotte County, Peace River Audubon Society at peaceriveraudubon.org

 

¦ In Lee County, Audubon of Southwest Florida at www.audubonswfl.org.

¦ In Collier County, Audubon of the Western Everglades at audubonwe.org.

¦ In Palm Beach County, Audubon Society of the Everglades at http:// www.auduboneverglades.org.

Keep it Clean

One threat that impacts all these species is entanglement in fishing line and other plastic trash, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reminds us.

“Members of the public can make a big difference for our state’s wading birds by properly disposing of these materials,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “And if you hook a bird while fishing, don’t cut the line. Reel, remove, and release.”

THE REAL DITCH BIRDS OF SOUTH FLORIDA

¦ White Ibis
Eudocimus albus

 

Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae

The most common of Florida’s wading birds, the sociable White Ibis is found throughout the state year round. It often forages along the ground in groups, probing the soil with their beaks, sometimes flushing off the ground in a wave — disturbed by something — before settling down again. You may also spot a Glossy Ibis, a darker colored bird of the same family.

¦ Great Egret
Ardea alba

Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae

Slightly smaller than a Great Blue Heron, the stately Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society. They also hunt like their larger blue family member and other herons, the Cornell Lab says, spearing fish with their bills.

There is also the shorter, stockier Cattle Egret. As the name implies, they are often found in cow fields among other areas.

“They help clean up around cows, eat insects and bugs,” said Mr. Mills with Peace River Audubon.

¦ Roseate Spoonbill

¦ Roseate Spoonbill

Also look for the immaculate white and yellow-footed Snowy Egret, also members of this heron family that thrives year-round in subtropical South Florida. Snowy Egrets are also known to mate with other heron species, producing hybrid offspring. You might also spot a big cinnamon and grey Reddish Egret, a state-designated threatened species, though it does not usually forage in urban areas.

¦ Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias

Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae

North America’s largest heron is a stately sight any time of year across Florida and much of North America.

“He’s one that often hunts at night,” Mr. Mills said. “So he’s been the source of alien reports. He has a loud, ‘gronky’ kind of call.”

Along with egrets and bitterns, a Great Blue Heron’s family includes the Little Blue Heron, Tri-Colored Heron, Green Heron, Black-Crowned Night Heron, and Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.

¦ White Ibis

¦ White Ibis

The smaller, stockier Green Herons and bitterns (also a heron) were nicknamed “Shit Quick” — or as Mr. Mills put it, the more polite term “Dump Quick.” That’s because of their propensity to poop when flying off after being startled.

¦ American Bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus

Order: Pelicaniformes
Family: Ardeidae

American Bitterns may be found wintering in Florida. It is known as a stealthy heron, some 2 feet tall but with streaked brown plumage that it uses as camouflage in tall marsh vegetation. They have a “booming, clacking, gulping calls” that have earned them nicknames such as “thunder pumper” and “water belcher,” The Cornell Lab says. Its closest relative, the Least Bittern, is one of the world’s smallest herons, about half the size of the American version and found year-round in South Florida.

¦ Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja

 

Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae

A prized sight, especially by Florida’s seasonal visitors, this big pink showstopper can be found in the coastal southeastern U.S. as well as coastal South America and in the Caribbean Islands, but nowhere else in North America. You could also see a Roseate Spoonbill join egrets or a group of ibis feeding in a ditch. It is a state-designated threatened species.

“(Seeing one) is a real treat,” Mr. Mills said. “That’s one of the things that people want to see when they come to Florida because they don’t have a chance to see them elsewhere.”

¦ Wood Stork

Mycteria americana
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ciconiidae

North America’s only native stork and a federally-designated threatened species, this big bald wading bird is white and lined with black feathers. It can stand more than 3 feet tall with a 5-foot wingspan and long thick beaks. It has been seen throughout Florida, though is known to be scarce.

 

¦ Limpkin
Aramus guarauna

Order: Gruiformes
Family: Aramidae

This brown-and-white streaked tropical wetland bird’s typical habitat reaches up into Florida but not the rest of North America. They are known for preferring to eat apple snails — with beaks adapted for the task — and for their sharp “haunting, otherworldly cries,” The Cornell Lab says, heard mostly at night.

¦ Sandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis

Order: Gruiformes
Family: Gruidae

These tall, grey, elegant birds wear a distinctive red mask and are known to winter in central and south Florida. Of note: their earliest fossil was found in the Macasphalt Shell Pit in Sarasota and is estimated to be 2.5 million years old.

¦ American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos

 

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae

Among the most common of birds and also among the most intelligent, the jet black crow with its inelegant CAW will also eat just about anything organic it can find. A nearly identical Fish Crow can be identified by its voice, which is often a double CAW CAW.

¦ Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschata

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae

Sometimes to be truly beautiful you have to be a little bit ugly. That’s the case with the Florida versions of these warty-faced offbeat urban waddlers. Though they are not native to the state, a large feral population, regarded by some as beloved and others as a pest, has adopted it as a home for as long as most people can remember.

¦ Common Gallinule
Gallinula galeata

Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae

Although it looks like it might be a duck, especially when swimming, this bird belongs to the family of rails, ground dwellers with several species who live in South Florida. It has a smooth red mask over part of its face and beak and extra-long toes to help it walk on the top of floating vegetation.

 

¦ Killdeer
Charadrius vociferous

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae

Among the family that includes plovers, this pretty, medium-size bird is named for its call, which is said to sound like KILLDEER, but you may not be able to make those words out. It sounds like a sharp two-syllable squeak.

¦Anhinga anhinga

Order: Suliformes
Family: Anhingidae

After rising from the water where they submerge to hunt fish, these large dark birds are most distinctive when drying their water-logged feathers — standing still and erect as if in a yogic pose, wings spread outward to embrace the sky. Most birds groom themselves with oil, but Anhingas have an underdeveloped uropygial gland that leaves their feathers sodden; however, that also helps them submerge when feeding. These year-round South Florida residents are also called “water turkey” or “snake bird” for their long S necks. When their wings are dried off they are known to fly, catching rising thermals and soaring high above the earth.

 

¦ Crested Caracara
Caracara cheriway

Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae

These large tropical falcons may be found perched on a high lone tree but are also comfortable walking along the ground. Thought to have only a small range in South Central Florida, they have nonetheless been reported across the region. They’re not attracted to watery ditches per se, but might if they can find food there. They often will join a group of Black Vultures or Turkey Vultures in feeding on a carcass. ¦

¦ Crested Caracara

¦ Crested Caracara

¦ Sandhill Crane

¦ Sandhill Crane

¦ Glossy Ibis

¦ Glossy Ibis

           

¦ Limpkin

¦ Limpkin

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