Florida's Nature/Home

Glossary

Assorted Birds of Florida

Including Owls, Raptors & Herons

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Barred Owl - Strix varia

Although a nocturnal hunter, the Barred owl is often seen during the day roosting in trees.

A large bird, the Barred Owl measures 21 inches long with a 3 foot wingspan.

The Barred owl has a round head with no ear tufts, is brownish-gray in color with brown and white bars across their chest and dark brown eyes.

The Barred Owl feeds on small mammals, snakes, lizards, birds and insects. Primary habitat is the woodlands around marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes.

Barn Owl - Tyto alba pratincola

The Barn Owl is found throughout Florida and feeds primarily on rodents in open areas such as pastures, fields and prairies.

Barn owls breed from January through June, occasionally laying eggs twice in one year.

They build no real nest, laying eggs in tree cavities or in barns and abandoned buildings and may reuse a site from season to season. Females are slightly larger than the males - at about 16 inches long and a little over one pound in weight.

Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus

The Great Horned Owl is native throughout Florida and is the largest of Florida's Owls, with a body length up to 25 inches and a wing span to five feet.

Great Horned Owls prey on a wide variety of animals from fish and snakes to small mammals and birds, a powerful predator, they are capable of taking animals two or three times their own body weight.

The Great Horned Owl is the only large owl in Florida that has "ear tufts".

Red- shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus

This hawk is 17 to 24 inches long with a wingspan to 44 inches and prefers bottomland and mature forests near water.

The Florida race of Red- shouldered hawk is generally paler in head and breast coloration than the northern and western varieties.

Diet consists of small mammals, birds, large insects, & snakes, it generally hunts by diving on its prey from a high perch.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Eagles are often seen perched on the tops of trees near substantial bodies of water. Females are slightly larger than males, average mature body length in 36 inches with a wing span of up to 90 inches, or just under 8 feet. Mating pairs stay together for life.

The Bald Eagle population in Florida is comprised of birds that migrate here from northern states in the fall as well as year-round residents. They are the only large bird in Florida with white head and tail feathers.

Bald Eagles are also called the Sea Eagle or Fish Eagle, as a major portion of their diet is made up of fish that they either catch or scavenge.

Known to take food from other birds of prey, Eagles will supplement their diet with carrion when the opportunity presents itself.

Crested Caracara - Polyborus plancus

The Crested Caracara is a member of the falcon family and although it may take advantage of opportune small prey on the ground it feeds primarily on carrion.

Crested Caracara build large stick nests in trees or on the ground. Considered a threatened species in Florida, the Crested Caracara inhabits the open woodlands and prairies around Lake Okeechobee.

Florida Wild Turkey -
Meleagris gallopavo osceola

One of six sub-species of turkey native to North America, the Osceola race is indigenous to the Florida peninsula.

Slightly smaller and with darker colors than the Eastern race, adult Toms (males) weigh 16-18 pounds.

Preferring open woodlands, turkey eat mostly grains, seeds and acorns, with insects rounding out their diet.

Florida Sandhill Crane -
Grus canadensis pratensis

A large bird with a body length just over 3 feet and a wingspan of 6 feet, predominately grey, more often stained rusty brown from preening with a muddy bill, red forecrown, white cheeks, relatively short black, straight bill and long, black legs.

Sandhill Crane habitat - Freshwater marshes, pastures, open woodland, frequent visitors on golf courses.

Feeds on seeds, tubers, insects, snakes, frogs and the occasional small mammal.

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

With a wingspan that can be up to six & a half feet and a body length up to 54 inches long, the Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America.

Feeding on fish and aquatic invertebrates and occasionally small mammals, they are most often seen stalking prey in the shallows of freshwater rivers, lakes & marshes.

The Great White Heron is a color morph or variation of the Great Blue Heron once thought to be a completely different specie. Similar in appearance to the White Egret, Great White Herons are most easily distinguished as having light colored legs whereas Great Egret legs are black.

Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea

The Little Blue Heron has a body length of 27-30 inches with a wingspan of 40 inches.

Usually seen hunting in the shallow waters of inland waterways, lakes, ponds and marshes, where it catches fish & crustaceans.

The Little Blue Heron also hunts in grassy meadows for insects and amphibians. Immature birds have all white plumage.

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor

The Tricolored Heron is similar in appearance to the Little Blue Heron. Tricolored Herons have a white belly with a white stripe running down the foreneck, as well as white plumes on the head during breeding season

Measuring about 26 inches long, the Tricolored Heron has a wingspan of 36 inches.

Yellow Crowned Night-Heron -
Nyctanassa violacea

Adult (left), Juvenile (right)

Although it's name implies otherwise this bird is also quite active during daylight hours. The Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron has an average body length of 24 inches with a wingspan of 44 inches.

Adults are slate grey, have a black head, white crown and cheek stripe, reddish eyes and yellow legs. Breeding adults have a yellow fore-crown with white plumes from nape and orange legs.

Juveniles are grayish brown with amber eyes, white spotting and streaks above, gradually acquiring adult characteristics over a two year period.

Hunts crabs and other crustaceans and small invertebrates in Mangroves, swamps and marshes, mainly near the coast.

Great Egret - Ardea alba

The Great Egret is a large, all white, wading bird common in South Florida. Body length to 39 inches, with a 55 inch wingspan.

One of several white members of the Ardeidae (Heron) family present in Florida the Great Egret is distinguished from the white morph of the Great Blue Heron by having black legs and feet, the Snowy Egret has a black bill and yellow feet and the Reddish Egret, (white morph) which has a black tipped bill and smaller stature. Breeding individuals have long plumes on backs.

Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis

The Cattle Egret averages 17-21 inches in length with a wingspan just over three feet. Often observed feeding in open pastures & fields away from water. Follows grazing animals and tractors, feeding on disturbed insects.

Distinguished from the Great Egret & White Heron by its much smaller size, from immature Little blue Herons by having an orange bill.

White Ibis - Eudocimus albus

White Ibis are often seen foraging in the wild for crustaceans & frogs, probing mudflats with their long, red, downcurved bill. Alternately, a frequent visitor to golf courses and cultivated lawns, usually in groups.

Adults are all white except for black wingtips, immature birds are a muddy brown with a white belly. Body 26 inches, long legs and bill red, flies with neck extended.

Wood Stork - Mycteria americana

Wood Storks are up to 35 inches long with an average wingspan of 66 inches.

The adults head and neck lack feathers, showing the black skin underneath. Long, thick, slightly curved bill.

The Wood Stork is considered an wetland indicator species, it has evolved to rely on very specific conditions.

A healthy population indicates that the habitat it is associated with is also considered healthy. Since it requires approximately 400 pounds of food to support itself and its hatchlings, the Wood storks times its breeding to coincide with the dry season when the receding waters of freshwater marshes force its prey fish into concentrated areas.

Feeling around with its long beak in shallow waters the Wood stork snaps up fish and other small aquatic animals.

Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga

Photos - (Left) Female Anhinga, (Right) Male

Also called the Water Turkey because of its large fan shaped tail or Snake Bird for its long neck, the Anhinga hunts fish underwater by diving and then spearing them with its long sharp bill. It then flips the fish around to swallow them head first & whole.

Anhinga feathers are not waterproof, helping this unique bird to submerge in order to hunt. However it also means that they become "waterlogged" and must dry themselves in order to be able to fly well, thus they are often seen perched on trees and other structures near the water with their wings spread out to dry.

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

The Osprey is a raptor in the Hawk and Eagle family that is highly adapted to hunting fish. Body length is 24 inches with a wing span of 5-6 feet.

Dark brown color above, white crown with a dark eye stripe, underside white.

Fairly common around estuaries, rivers and lakes. Gliding above the water, an Osprey will hover briefly before diving on its prey, hitting the water with its legs swung forward and wings back.

Grasping a fish with its strong talons, the Osprey will carry it with the head oriented forward to a nearby perch or to its nest for consumption.

Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis

The Brown Pelican is one of the most easily recognizable water birds found in Florida, with its large bill and a featherless, expandable throat pouch that also make it a superb fisher.

Pelicans have a body length of 4 feet and a seven foot plus wingspan, juveniles are brown with a white belly, adults are grayish-brown with yellow crown, neck is white in winter - chestnut brown in summer.

Feeds alone or in groups near shore in the ocean, bays and estuaries. The only Pelican of the seven species worldwide that dives from the air onto its prey. Scooping up prey fish into its pouch, the Pelican squeezes out the water before swallowing the fish whole.

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus

Adult Killdeer are about 10 inches long with two dark bands on the breast and another encircling the head. Upper portion of the body is grayish-brown, lower portion is white.

The Killdeer is a shorebird that more often then not is found away from the shore! Scurrying about in a darting, starting and stopping fashion, the Killdeer can be seen in grassy areas with little or no vegetation such as lawns, golf courses and even highway medians.

Killdeer nests are little more than slight scrapes on the ground, the parent birds are always nearby, ready to lead intruders on a merry chase away from its nest or nearby babies.

Feigning a broken wing, they will let you get almost to them, then flap clumsily ahead, repeating this until they think they have lured you far enough away from the nest that you are no longer a danger to it or the babies, they then simply fly away.

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

A small, stocky shorebird that gets its name from characteristic of turning of stones and other debris in its search for the small aquatic crustaceans that make up the majority of its diet.

Body length is 6 - 8 inches with a wingspan of about 20 inches, has short orange legs.

Wintering along the the coast of Florida, the Ruddy Turnstone is often seen in small groups of birds.

Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus

Average length - 18 inches, with a wingspan of 29 inches. Makes large excavations in trees to find ants and beetle larvae, its two main food sources.

Pilated Woodpeckers are black with a red, pointed crest, thin neck & white and black stripes on the face and sides of the birds neck. Males have red foreheads and "moustache", females have a black forehead and "moustache". Prefers mature forest habitat with large trees. Nests in tree cavities.

Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus

Body length -9 inches, Small round headed Woodpecker, very common throughout Florida. Black & white barred wings and back, face and underside pale gray.

Male forehead, crown and hindneck are red, the females crown is gray. The Red-bellied Woodpecker prefers open woods habitat.

National Geographic Field Guides to Florida Birds

Great Florida Birding Trail: East Section Guide

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