Birds of the Everglades

The Everglades airboat tours or fan boat tours may be a fine attraction but watching the beautiful winged creatures that call the Everglades home unlike anything else. If you have arrived from Miami to the Everglades by a shuttle to witness nature in its purest form, this is the place for it!

1. Anhinga

This water bird is also known as the American Darter or the Water Turkey. It doesn't have oil glands like most other birds so when it goes fishing, its feathers become wet. It can be found in the freshwater ponds or swamps of the Everglades feeding on fish and insects.



2. Bald Eagle

The endangered bald eagle is a bird of prey and also the national bird of the U.S. It has a distinctive white head with brown body feathers. They prey on small mammals, rodents, and fish.

 

3. Roseate Spoonbill

The spoonbill is a water bird with a distinctive spatula-like bill and a rich plume of pink feathers. Its feathers acquire this pink hue from the scarlet colored crustaceans it feeds on in the Everglades swamps. If you go on an alligator tour, you will find these spoonbills feeding along the swamp banks.

 

4. Red-shouldered Hawk

The red-shouldered hawk has a brown upper body feathers with a reddish underbelly. They are medium-sized birds that soar over the marshlands of the Everglades. They hunt small amphibians, mammals, reptiles, and fish.



5. Great Blue Heron

The great blue heron is a wading bird that is commonly found in the wetlands. They have a wingspan of over 6 feet and stand about 3 to 4 feet tall. They seem to be rather slow-moving creatures but can strike like lightening at the sight of prey.

 

6. Snail Kite

This endangered bird is found in the tropical marshlands of the Everglades all year round. It is the only hawk known that feeds primarily on snails. It has a wingspan of about 45 inches. They have a white-tipped tail with sooty brown feathers.

 

7. Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

Yet another endangered bird native to the Everglades is the Cape Sable seaside sparrow. It is nicknamed the 'Goldilocks bird' because it is extremely picky about the conditions of its habitat. The transformation of their habitat is causing sightings of this bird to become few and far between.

 

8. Red-cockaded Woodpecker

The red-cockaded woodpecker is a medium-sized bird also on the endangered species list. It has a black and white color with white flecked crowns. Males may have a red patch in the center. They feed on insects.

 

9. Piping Plover

This tiny shore bird is sandy colored and about the same size as a sparrow. They are a protected species often found along the shores of beaches or sandbanks of marshy water bodies.



10. Wood Stork

The wood stork is a large wading bird found in the Everglades. It is characterized by its bald head and thick down-curved bill. It is the only stork to breed in the United States and does so during the dry season in the Everglades when fish is easily available.

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Orignal From: Birds of the Everglades