Black-bellied Whistling-ducks are one of several whistlers from the Tropics that have moved northward into North America. While quite common in Texas, they have also infiltrated Florida, as its tropical climate plays into their wimpy hands. Whistling-ducks are not closely related to other waterfowl, being tropical in origin. They also don’t quack, but rather squeal (as they said in that awful movie, Deliverance, “like a pig.”)

Miami seems to be the epicenter of introduced birds in our country. This includes mynas, bulbuls and others, but most belong to the order of parrots and parakeets. These are the most intelligent birds on Earth and many people love teaching them to talk. This order, Psittaciformes, has long tails and rapid wingbeats, with epignathus bills (curved down) for cracking seeds. These are Black-hooded Parakeets.

Brown Pelicans are very common in Florida, although DDT never reduced their numbers as badly as in some states like Louisiana (where their State Bird completely disappeared). This old fella is giving mea perfectly lovely reflection of himself, an image many bird photographers try to attain. These adults have white heads and necks.

Mynas are Old World birds that have been introduced to various communities in America and other countries. The Common Myna above is especially present in the Homestead and Florida City part of Dade County, although it is found elsewhere in the region, too. They are related to starlings and I like them about the same… 😉 Mynas represent several species of medium-sized, dark birds with amazing vocal skills. This is the Hill Myna, a native resident from India eastward. They are more arboreal than Common Mynas and are seldom seen on the ground (despite their large feet). Hill Mynas are residents in certain parks and wooded neighborhoods in the Miami area, and are spreading slowly to other locales.

Egyptian Geese are residents of Africa but have been introduced in a few parts of South Florida. With all introductions, it remains to be seen if they will be good avian citizens or create problems with birds or other animals. An awful lot of introductions are city birds and they probably affect our feathered friends less than those who establish themselves in natural areas. We’ll all hold our breath on this one!

One of the most impacted wild species from the hand of man is the Florida Scrub-jay. Much oftheir former, native habitat has been destroyed in the rush to develop the entire Peninsula of Florida, but they survive in some more natural areas. Here on Merritt Island NWR they are not only common but tame, interacting freely with refuge personnel.

Glossy Ibis are circum-Equatorial birds found in the Peninsula of Florida. You can see a hint of the bluish face found more prominently in adult birds, but unlike Texas’ White-faced Ibis, the light color doesn’t extend behind the eye. Ibis not only eat fish but all sorts of lower animals snarfed up by their long, decurved beak.

This is the Limpkin, a snail-eating cousin of cranes and rails (though they really have no close relatives). Curiously, in the absence of their preferred Apple Snails, their numbers were greatly reduced, but with the recent introduction of a larger snail, they have rebounded markedly. They are among the louder birds of our Planet.

This is the Purple Swamphen, a native of Africa. They would remind you of a robust Purple Gallinule with a cool, decurved beak. These escaped in the Everglades after a hurricane and have been spreading ever since. They work the shores more than PUGA and eat more substantial food. This is a good example of convergence, I believe.

The Florida subspecies of theMottled Duck has a slightly different bill than the race we see on the Western Gulf Coast, but is otherwisepretty similar. The slightly larger male has a yellower bill than the trailing female and also less green than the males of the Western Gulf. The nail on the bill also is more prominent - jet black. These are residents of South Florida, while there is some movement of our birds in Texas and Louisiana. They join a number of other species like cranes and caracaras that are found in the two ends of the Gulf but not so much in “Middle Gulf States” like Alabama and Mississippi. I can hardly blame them.

Painted Buntings also breed on both ends of the Gulf, and like Mottled Ducks, there are two races. This Florida subspecies is more brightly-colored than the one in Texas, but the difference is subtle (and the picture, crappy). These birds are fairly common winter residents in South Florida as well, whereas the species is far more rare in the Texas and Louisiana winters. This was chosen as North America’s most beautiful bird.

American Crows are also a different race in South Florida and often ridiculously tame in parks and refuges. Notice the bristles covering the nostrils, filtering out dust and other foreign material. Crows have what’s termed a “simple” bill, with many general tasks to perform. And buddy, behind those eyes is a high-powered brain (for a bird).

Pied-billed Grebes are at their greatest abundance in South Florida, seemingly in every ditch and tinypond. This bird is in winter plumage, really only told by the absence of a black bar on the bill. This grebe has a stouter bill for crunching invertebrates, although it also eats fish and tadpoles. You can almost make out the lobed toes it shares with coots and phalaropes. Below are two flight shots (at a huge distance) of the mighty Pileated Woodpecker (or “Ivory-billed,” as they call them in Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana). In the extinct species, the entire back edge of the wing is (was) white, while these have their white on the front edge. Also note the dark bill, and female Ivory-bills had a black crest. I find the loss of these, Bachman’s Warbler and Carolina Parakeet a painful scourge for the Deep South I love so much.

Purple Gallinules are rails that only rarely swim. This bird has taken to the water to procure a bulb from a lily pad, and hoisted itto shore to pick it over. Gallinules, coots & moorhens have frontal shields of varying colors to protectthem from harsh vegetation and very long toes for greater supportwhile walking on unsure footing.

Roseate Spoonbills are less common in Florida than Texas&Louisiana but are far from rare. Here you see an adult, with its red wing-patch and bare facial skin, with an immature looking on from behind. Spoonbills, which get their pink from carotene in the shrimp they eat, have other species around tropical Earth, although ours are the most beautiful! 😉 Winter is a time for flocking and these blackbirds are congregated in a long line of thousands of members. This family has probably been helped by the agriculture of our species, while other groups have suffered by having their habitat altered to fields. Our blackbirds are doing very well, except for the Rusty, which is mysteriously having its numbers reduced annually.

Sandhill Cranes are another “Texas and Florida” species, although a small, nonmigratory breeding population does exist in East Mississippi. Cranes are not related to herons and egrets (curiously dubbed “cranes” in the vernacular), but their ilk around the World are famous for the bustle of long, curved feathers covering the tail. The tinge of brown on this bird may indicate youth, although some adults become stained with tannic acid.

White-crowned Pigeons are only found in extreme South Florida (in the US) and are often difficult to locate. A confirmed mangrove species, most of their kind exists on the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park. I find their white crown curious, as most birds have dark crowns and lighter heads to ward off the UV rays ofthe sun.

White Ibis are common as all get-out in Florida, like they are on the Western Gulf Coast. They often work the ground in droves, walking more/less side-by-side through the grass. Ibis and curlews, which have tasty meat, have decurved bills so they can watch for predators while they probe the ground. Of all the white birds with black wing-tips, they probably have the least black on the ends of their wings.

And then there are Wood Storks, which have black in the primaries and secondaries, plus a bare head designed for purpose and not aesthetics. There are several species of storks around the World, mostly in tropical regions, but they are not all closely-related. Note this bird’spink feet (for scaring up benthic prey), and bare skin for keeping mites off their heads. This bird was known as the Wood “Ibis” for most of its existence, but was appropriately changed to Wood Stork.

This adult Red-shouldered Hawk has captured a snake alongside the road and is striking a defensive pose when I stopped the car. This species often hunts near roads and these are good areas for spotting moving prey on the ground. This species eats cold- and warm¬blooded prey and occasionally even insects. Notice how pale this bird is below. This is the South Florida (resident) race of the RSHA, not the only species with a paler race in Florida.

South Florida is the only place in North America where Short-tailed Hawks can be found fairly easily. They nest in Central Florida and winter in the southern part of the State. This species often takes smaller birds on the wing, which is not common behavior for buteos. They are also found in many parts of the American Tropics.

Short-tails are dichromatic, having a dark and light morph, with the dark one above being the common type in Florida. The wings are broader than those of the Red-shouldered, allowing them to soar more easily. This species often feeds in the morning and then ascends to the heavens for much of the day, often far too high to be seen.

This light morph Short-tailed Hawk was over Anhinga Trail and appears to be eyeballing me. The wings are broad, but also long, which makes the bird appear to have a short tail – thus the misnomer. Remember that many white birds have dark wing-tips to help stiffen the primaries and keep them from wearing.