#raptors
5 posts tagged.
Cape Coral Burrowing Owls — Florida's Most Photographed Threatened Raptor
Cape Coral holds the largest urban population of Florida burrowing owls — roughly 2,500 birds nesting in suburban lawns and vacant lots. Here's where to see them, when to come, and how not to be the reason a clutch fails.
Crested Caracara — The Mexican Eagle You'll See on a Florida Fence Post, and Why Birders Drive 3 Hours for It
The crested caracara is a tropical falcon that lives nowhere else east of the Rio Grande except a 500-to-1,000-bird isolate population in central Florida's cattle prairies. Mexico put it on the flag. Florida birders drive three hours to find one on a fence post.
Lake Kissimmee Snail Kite — Florida's Specialist Raptor at the Headwaters of the Everglades
There are roughly 3,000 Florida snail kites left, and they all live here — in a chain of lakes most Floridians have never paddled. Lake Kissimmee is the easiest place to see one without chartering a boat. Here's how to do it right.
Swallow-Tailed Kite — Florida's Most Beautiful Bird Returns Every March, and Half the State Has No Idea
The American swallow-tailed kite returns to Florida every March from a 5,000-mile flight out of Brazil. Pure black-and-white, deeply forked tail, four-foot wingspan, snake-eater. Roughly 80% of the US breeding population nests here — and most Floridians never look up to notice.
Three Lakes WMA — Florida's Bald Eagle Stronghold
Florida has the highest bald eagle nesting density in the lower 48, and the densest pocket of all sits on a 63,000-acre wildlife management area in Osceola County. Here's how to drive it, what you'll see, and what to leave alone.