Bird Life
- Note - Lee County has recently adopted an ordinance to ban any pishing, call-backs, vocalizations, etc. on all county lands. An individual can be fined for any disruption in wildlife behavior.
Florida Scrub Jay
Status - Uncommon Resident
The other location, a much more well know spot called Festival Park, in Cape Coral. Located near to Kismet and Chiquita Boulevard. Look for birds around NW 24th Terrace. They can be spotted using the clumps of scrub on the property. The family group will usually have a sentry bird perched high up on the wires or treetops to keep a watch for danger or opportunities. Feeding or calling these protected birds is not permitted.
The Festival Park area is a tract of land the City of Cape Coral had been acquiring for the purpose of creating a new park to host large-scale events, Look for the Scrub Jays here. Other resident birds expected include Burrowing Owls, Eastern Meadowlarks and Loggerhead Shrikes.
But the presence of the Florida Scrub Jays has become a major headache for that city.
The City had big plans for the location to create a recreational area for community sponsored festival and sporting events. Some $27 Million had already been spent acquiring the property. But development came to halt with discovery of three families of the Scrub-Jays about 2005 on the property. As the birds are on the National Protected Species List, they cannot be disturbed.
Now what is the City to do? It comes down to two chooses. Do nothing and hope they go away or go ahead with a mitigation plan called a Habitat Conservation Plan. At a price tag of $780,025, to the City, they could get permits to go forward with development. The funds will be used to manage and maintain scrub-jay habitat at Alva Nature Park. The birds will not be moved. But to cover the costs, the city council is considering a one-time fee assessed to all property owners in the Cape, of not more than eight to ten dollars. As the citizens have taken great measures to protect their beloved burrowing owls, I can't see how a few dollars could stand in the way. Hopefully the future development will include suitable habitat for the birds so that they will remain and be enjoyed by so many.
Status - Uncommon Resident
There are, currently, two known locations for sighting Florida Scrub Jays in the Ft Myers area.
One family group can be located in Lehigh Acres near to 47th St W, just off of Sunshine Blvd
Magnificent
Frigatebird
Great White Egret
Reddish Egret
Wood Stork
Status - Common local resident,
Status - Common local resident,
considered threatened on the Endangered Species List
Greater Flamingo
Status - Rarely Seen Visitor
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| The bird pictured was a very rare sighting in Lee County in 2015 |
The Flamingo is a commonly used icon for the State of Florida, where it is actually quite rare. Roseate Spoonbills have often been miss identified as flamingos, so beware that most all of the large pink birds here in Florida are not Flamingos But were can they be seen. The shallow bays in the most southern boundaries of Everglades National Park can host a few birds wandering over from The Bahamas. Greatest probabilities of seeing a flamingo are in the winter months and will usually require some kind of watercraft with a shallow draft'
Recently numbers of flamingos have been showing up in the springtime, using the shallow waters of the Storm Water Treatment Areas, in western Palm Beach County. Access is restricted and the status of these birds have been a mystery
Swallow-tailed Kites
Status - Locally Common from March through July
The Swallow-tailed Kite is a beautiful and popular raptor from Central and South America. A very small population of these kites migrate to the Southeastern United States in late February and into March for their nesting season. Most of this migrating population will stay in Florida, but numbers will spread out from Texas to South Carolina. Historically, they had once nested as far north as the mid-western states.
By mid-July the kites will be assembling in large concentrations, mostly, around Glades County in pre-migration roosts that can number in the hundreds. Some of this activity can been seen locally south of the airport. I have witnessed counts exceeding 40 birds kettling above Wild Turkey Strand Preserve. By the end of August almost every bird has made the dangerous flight across the Gulf of Mexico back to their winter range. Genetic studies seem to indicate that our population will head for southern Brazil
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Status - Common Resident
Going back 50 years Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were very uncommon in Florida. With their expansion from Texas, they have become a very successful species having become a common resident species throughout much of the state
Fulvous Whistling
Duck
Status - An Uncommon Resident to SW Florida
Fulvous Whistling Ducks are uncommon in SW Florida. Best locations include STA 5 in Hendry County and various locations in Palm Beach County
Check with Hendry-Glades Audubon Society on access to STA 5
Status - An Uncommon Resident to SW Florida
Fulvous Whistling Ducks are uncommon in SW Florida. Best locations include STA 5 in Hendry County and various locations in Palm Beach CountyCheck with Hendry-Glades Audubon Society on access to STA 5
Crested Caracara
Snail Kite
Short-tailed Hawk
Limpkin
Purple Gallinule
Gray-headed Swamphen
White-crowned Pigeon
Parrots and Parakeets
We currently have no native psittacid species in the US. Carolina Parakeets were once a common parakeet found in southeastern United States, but became extinct about a hundred years ago.
But other psittacid have filled the gap, as escapees of many parrot species have become establishes in our more southern urban areas. There success stems from the planting of many exotics flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs as well as well stocked bird feeders.
Ft Lauderdale and Miami host the greatest variety of exotic birds including dozens of parrot species.
Locally, Monk and Nanday Parakeets are found in Ft Myers, Cape Coral as well as Sarasota and Pinellas County. Rose-ringed Parakeets are found in Naples and Blue-crowned Parakeets can be found in Manatee and Pinellas County.
We currently have no native psittacid species in the US. Carolina Parakeets were once a common parakeet found in southeastern United States, but became extinct about a hundred years ago.
But other psittacid have filled the gap, as escapees of many parrot species have become establishes in our more southern urban areas. There success stems from the planting of many exotics flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs as well as well stocked bird feeders.
Ft Lauderdale and Miami host the greatest variety of exotic birds including dozens of parrot species.
Locally, Monk and Nanday Parakeets are found in Ft Myers, Cape Coral as well as Sarasota and Pinellas County. Rose-ringed Parakeets are found in Naples and Blue-crowned Parakeets can be found in Manatee and Pinellas County.
- Monk Parakeet
- Nanday Parakeet
- Blue-crowned
Parakeet
- Rose-ringed
Parakeet
Naples has hosted a population of Rose-ringed Parakeets for a great many years. Best to check at eBird for latest reported locations
Naples has hosted a population of Rose-ringed Parakeets for a great many years. Best to check at eBird for latest reported locations
Mangrove Cuckoo
Burrowing Owl
Red-cockaded
Woodpecker
Gray Kingbird
Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher
Black-whiskered Vireo
Bachman's Sparrow
Shiny Cowbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Mammals of Interest
Florida Panther
Manatee
Fish Species of Interest
Smalltooth Sawfish
This species is critically threatened. The US population has shrunk due to over fishing and habitat loss and is centered around SW Florida. Local shallow estuaries in Charlotte Harbor and the Ten Thousand Islands of the Everglades are critical as breeding nurseries.
Smalltooth Sawfish Status
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/smalltooth-sawfish
This species is critically threatened. The US population has shrunk due to over fishing and habitat loss and is centered around SW Florida. Local shallow estuaries in Charlotte Harbor and the Ten Thousand Islands of the Everglades are critical as breeding nurseries.
Smalltooth Sawfish Status
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/smalltooth-sawfish
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Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Middle District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 1, 2019
Jacksonville Man Pleads Guilty To Killing A Sawfish
Jacksonville, Florida – Chad Ponce (38, Jacksonville) today pleaded guilty to killing an endangered species. Ponce faces a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison and a $50,000 fine. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Sawfishes are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish, with some species reaching lengths of up to 17 feet. The fish are found in meaningful numbers only in the southeastern United States, primarily the southwest coast of Florida (smalltooth), and in Australia (largetooth). At one time, both species were found worldwide, throughout tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine and estuarial waters, as well as freshwater rivers and lakes. In Florida, the smalltooth sawfish is dependent on estuarial mangrove waters on the southern and southwest borders of the state. It is there that they breed and give birth. The sawfish has been recognized as an endangered species since May 1, 2003.
Sawfish are generally harmless to humans, although they can inflict serious injury with their saws if threatened. The rostrum of the sawfish is used by the animal to locate and disable its prey, and is believed to carry sensory cells that assist it in orienting itself to time and location. The smalltooth sawfish cannot survive without its rostrum. On July 18, 2018, Ponce was seen removing the rostrum from a live 12-foot smalltooth sawfish with a power saw aboard his fishing vessel off the coast of Ponte Vedra, Florida.
This case was investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Wildlife Commission. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay Taylor.