Florida Vacation Rental Home - Birding

Florida vacation rental home - Birds in the area

The area around our Florida vacation homes are famous for bird watching. Within 10 miles of our vacation rental homes there are several officially designated birding area. The following pictures were all taken within 1/2 mile of our vacation rental home.



This is the Great Blue Heron we call "Blue" for short.

He is famous for begging for fish. When you are cleaning your catch, he will gladly consume your leftovers.

If you or your family catch smaller fish from the dock or the seawall behind the vacation home, he will eat them whole.

He is a "predator" so he should not be allowed to get too close. His bill is VERY SHARP.

Here is "Whitey", a White Egret.

Whitey is also a predator and should not be allowed to get too close because his bill is VERY sharp.

He is not interested in eating bread. His is a meat eater and loves fish, fish parts, salami, bologna, turkey, chicken and small dogs (just kidding!).

This is a cormorant. His natural food is fish. He swims underwater and catches the fish in his bill, then comes to the surface and swallows the fish. His feathers absorb water to make him neutrally boyant underwater, just the opposite of a duck, whose feathers repel water to make him float.

In Japan, the cormorant used to be used by fishermen to harvest fish from the sea. The fisherman would have 10 to 20 of these birds and would place a small metal band around their neck.

This metal band would not harm the bird, but it would prevent him from swallowing a "whole fish".. The birds roosted on the sides of the fisherman's small boat and dive into the water. When they caught a fish, they brought it back to the boat. The fisherman would then give the bird a small piece of fish that the bird could swallow as a reward.

The cormorant can often be seen sitting with its wings spread, drying its feathers. This made the bird lighter so it is easier for him to fly home for the night.



This is an IBIS.

If anyone knows a nice story about this kind of bird, please let mk know so I can include it here.








This is a Osprey. Ospreys can be seen swooping over the surface of the water and pulling fish into the air with their talons.

Some people call this bird a "fish eagle", which is not technically correct.






Can anyone identify the type of owl this is?



I spotted him sitting on a dock and snapped his picture.







This is a fine example of a brown pelican. This is an endangered species and a large percentage of the entire population lives in this area.

This is a seagull... I am not sure of the type... can someone help me out on this.....

This is the mystery bird. I do not have any idea what type it is.