Birding in the Florida Everglades

Tuesday, January 12

We saw some amazing birds on our kayaking trip to the Florida Everglades.

The most abundant there are the great white egret and snowy egret that we have here in San Diego. We saw them in large numbers all along the rivers and canal banks and shorelines of the mangrove swamps.

The most beautiful but elusive is the roseate spoonbill ibis. Coloring is from white to pink with darker patches of pink around the chest. Really quite stunning.

A similar looking bird is the wood stork also known as the wood ibis. Almost 4 feet tall and with a 6 foot wingspan, this is an impressive bird.

You can tell them from the great white egret by the grey head and ibis bill that curves downward. They also have grey at the end of their wings, similar to the white pelican, so it is quite distinctive in flight.

In addition to the great blue herons that are common in San Diego, we saw a few tri-colored, little blue and yellow-crowned night herons.

Of course, the brown pelicans are abundant there like they are here and so friendly that they perch on the docks and ride along on the airboats. We also saw a few white pelicans that are much larger than the brown species but less abundant. They migrate to South Florida for the winter just like they do here in San Diego.

The anhinga is a relative of the cormorant but with a sharp bill for spearing fish instead of grabbing them. The anhinga also has white coloring along the back and wings which adds to its beauty. They are excellent swimmers and like to sit out in the sun to dry their wings in between swims.