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Florida's Birds: Wading
The Legs Have It
Many of these birds are white and easily confused. This is how it goes:
Yellow Legs, Yellow bill |
Great Blue Heron |
Green Legs, Black on bill |
Little Blue Heron |
Black Legs, Black bill |
Snowy Egret |
Black Legs, Yellow bill |
Great Egret |
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Great Blue Heron
This bird is 39 to 52" tall (almost 4 1/2 feet) with a wingspan of 70" (almost 6 feet). When flying it folds it's neck (the sandhill crane flies with it's neck extended). It's sound is a hoarse guttural squawk. It nests in trees and sometime on the ground concealed in reeds and grasses. It nests in colonies. These large birds eat fish and frogs, small mammals, reptiles and sometimes other birds.
 Watch and hear baby herons.
Sorry about all the talking. A lot of photographers were out shooting photos of the babies and they weren't very respectful of our video camera.
(50mg. This takes about 1 1/2 minutes with a cable connection)
 Great Egret
You can find this bird in freshwater and salt marshes and even out your back door. It will feed alone and eat fish, frogs, snakes and crayfish in shallow water. It will slowly walk along the edge of the water, leaning forward almost eagerly, then stabbing into the water for it's dinner.
 Listen to the Great Egret
Snowy Egret
A small, all white egret with black bill and legs and yellow feet. They feed in flocks with other waders in a wide variety of shallow marshes. They'll use different ways of feeding including running through shallow water and flying low to strike at prey where water is too deep for wading. Their most common prey are small fish, insects, crustaceans, and shrimp. These birds were grabbing the fish from some boys who were siening for bait.
Black-Crowned Night Heron
The books say this bird has a black crown and back but in the field and in this photo it appears blue. We never did identify this bird. It took the technical expertise of Larry Manfredi to tag it. It has a distinctive red eye though and when breeding it has two or more white plumes on the back of the head. It is mostly a night bird and so is seldom seen. It's harsh barking squawk is often heard at dusk or later.
For additional statistics and information on this bird check out the US Geological Survey website.
Green Heron
Green Herons are the most common heron in Florida but they are not often seen. Despite it's iridescent colors it blends into the brush very well and people don't usually notice it until it flushes. When hunting, a Green Heron will perch unmoving at the waters edge untill a hapless fish swims by and the Green Heron grabs it with it's sharp bill. The bird on the right was photographed in a banana tree about 10 feet outside our patio window.
"The species is especially notable for its remarkable feeding habits, which include the fabrication and use of bait to attract fish. The
Green Heron feeds opportunistically on a wide variety of aquatic creatures, including worms,
insect larvae, mature insects, crustaceans, fish, frogs, snakes, and rodents. It forages in shallow water or on rocks or branches above water, standing still and watching the water, then darting its head and neck out to seize prey. Notably, Green Herons sometimes use bait to attract fish. They use both lures, such as feathers and leaves, and live bait, such as worms and insects. Green Herons have even been observed breaking sticks into small pieces to use as bait, one of the few examples of tool-making by birds." www.birds.cornell.edu
Listen to the Green Heron
Tri-colored Heron
A slender gray-blue heron with rufous neck and white belly. It makes guttural croaks and squawks. "Formerly called the "Louisiana Heron," this is one of the most abundant herons in the Deep South. The Tricolored Heron is extremely slender and moves gracefully as it searches about for frogs or fish. Despite its relatively small size, it forages in deep water; often its legs are completely under water, and the bird appears to be swimming. " eNature.com
Watching the behavior of the birds and other creatures of the marshes is fun and interesting. Here a Tri-colored Heron is following a soft shell turtle as it paddles around. It seemed to be taking advantage of the fish and other creatures the turtle might have been stirring up.
Little Blue Heron
Length: 22 inches Wingspan: 41 inches. The two sexes similar.
They are medium-sized, long-legged, long-necked waders who usually holds neck in an "S" curve at rest and in flight. The bill long and pointed and they have dull green legs.
"Immature birds are mostly white with pale slate-gray tips on primary wing feather. Legs of young birds are yellowish-green. Immature birds retain their yellowish legs during the second year."
Florida Natural Areas Inventory
Black-Necked Stilt
Stilts once bred as far north as New Jersey. Their decline was due to excessive hunting. In the nesting season they are particularly aggressive and will often fly low over people. You can find Stilts in grassy marshes, mud flats, pools, shallow lakes and both fresh and alkaline water. They probe in mud with slender bills for food."The most extreme of extremities, the longest legs relative to size of any shore bird. The stilt wades into the deepest waters of all waders, six inches or more, using its long thin bill to pick up aquatic invertebrates from the surface of the water."
Excerpt from Pelican Network
Willet
In flight Willet's have a striking black and white wing pattern. They breed in central south Canada to Mexico and winter in Florida. We found the one on the left at the beach in Fort Myer's in September 2003 and the one on the right at a marsh in March 2005.
There is a great video and sound bit at the MangoVerde website. There is also a good site location map at Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
winter plumage
Limpkin
The Lipkin is a local resident in Florida. It is usually active at night but this one had a chick and obviously needed to work round the clock to eat. It eats mainly apple snails but will also eat frogs, tadpoles and water insects. We watched this one take the apple snail it had plucked out of the water over to a tree root and crack it several times against the root.
There were two Limpkins protecting this young chick. They both flew off and left the youngster alone for quite a while.
All photos, including birds and other wildlife photography © by Gilbert Henry
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Gill Henry
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