Florida Mottled Duck

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Florida Mottled Duck, a unique subspecies of the Mottled Duck found only in Florida.   Also known as the Florida Mallard, they are close relatives of the Mallard Duck.  They spend their entire life within the state and are one of only a few non-migratory ducks in North America.  They are adaptable to many wetland habitats in both brackish and fresh water.  They can be found in ponds, marshes, lakes, rivers, canals, flooded fields and even roadside ditches throughout southern Florida.

        Unlike "diving" ducks who feed by swimming under water, Mottled Ducks feed on or near the surface.  They lurch forward submerging their head under the water, with their tail pointing straight up.  Ducks who employ this foraging technique are called "dabbling" ducks.  Males and females are similar in appearance except for the bill.  The Male's bill is bright yellow, the Female's is deep to pale orange, sometimes with black splotches around the edges and near the base.  They are dark brown overall with a light brown head and neck.  They have blue wing patches and bright orange legs and feet.  The average Mottled Duck is about 23 inches in length, weighing up to four pounds, with a wingspan of nearly three feet.

        Feral Mallards are breeding with Mottled Ducks.  The result of this "hybridization" is that fewer pure-bred Mottled Ducks are left each year, which could ultimately doom the Florida Mottled Duck to extinction.  The draining of wetland areas in south Florida has resulted in habitat loss.  This species is also prized by hunters.  Despite these hardships, their conservation status is "Least Concern". 

        Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Florida Mottled Duck.....tweet.....tweet!!  Or should it be.....quack.....quack!!?

Mottled Ducks (Female in front, male behind)
(Taken 1/21/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Mottled Ducks (Female in front, male behind)
(Taken 11/9/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Mottled Ducks with young.
(Taken 4/22/13, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Mottled Ducks are "dabbling" ducks.
(Taken 12/14/13, Englewood Sports Complex, Englewood FL)

Female Mottled Duck
(Taken 2/2/12, The Rookery, Venice FL)

Male Mottled Duck
(Taken 4/19/13,  The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Remembering 2014

        Tomorrow ends a great birding year for us!  Some of our 2014 highlights include; Three new flycatchers, a Scissor-Tailed near Clewiston, a Vermilion at Orlando Wetlands Park, and a Say's Phoebe near Arcadia.  Warblers at Fort De Soto Park; Tennessee, Kentucky, Worm-Eating and Chestnut-Sided along with a Louisiana Waterthrush and a Northern Waterthrush in the spring, and our most recent life bird, the Magnolia Warbler in the fall.  In June we spent some time with our families in upstate New York.  Managing to get out a few times, we added 14 new birds, including a Hairy Woodpecker.  The Hairy has become a nemesis bird (the one we just can't get) for us in Florida, but eventually, we will prevail.  In all, we added 46 new birds in 2014, bringing our life list to 259 species.

        Our observations are recorded into a database at Ebird.org.  Ebird will keep track of your various lists; life, state, county and location lists and much more.  You can check the database to see where those hard-to-find species (like the Hairy Woodpecker) have been recently spotted.  You can explore a particular region or even a specific "hotspot".  It makes planning your next outing simple, and hopefully productive.       

        We have scored over 100 species in five different counties.  Sarasota County ranks #1 at 180, followed by our home county of Charlotte with 159.  We also have 100 plus species in Pinellas (143), Manatee (134) and Lee (117) counties.  Collier County is at 98, so we will reach a new milestone there, sometime in 2015.

        We take this time to wish our families, our friends and fellow birders our heartfelt wishes for a Happy New Year.  May you find good health, happiness, prosperity and abundant blessings.
        Our families will be visiting us in Englewood in February and April 2015.  We are looking forward to sharing the trails and the birds with them.  Remember, the early bird catches the worm.  Here are some of our favorite photos from 2014.....tweet.....tweet!!

TREE SWALLOWS
(A pair feeding insects to their young.)

(Taken in June, near Potsdam NY)

HAIRY WOODPECKER
(Our #1 nemesis bird in Florida.)
(Taken in June, my brother's backyard, Parishville NY)

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE
(One of over 300 flying over a melon field, hawking insects.)
(Taken in July, Oxford FL)

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
(In winter plumage, this bird stuck around for nearly two weeks.)
(Taken in September, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota FL)

MARSH WREN
(A tough bird to get a good photo of, our best shot by far.)
(Taken in October, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

BURROWING OWLS
(These guys are just too cute.)
(Taken in July, Cape Coral FL)

MAGNOLIA WARBLER
(Male in non-breeding colors.)
(Taken in October, Ft. De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL)

PEREGRINE FALCON
(The fastest animal on the planet, reaching speeds of 230 MPH in a dive.)
(Taken in November, near the Charlotte County Airport, Punta Gorda FL)

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER
(Our 159th Charlotte County species.)
(Taken in December, near the Charlotte/Lee County Line)

Red-Winged Blackbird

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Red-Winged Blackbird.  This abundant and familiar species can be seen year-round across most of the United States.  Only the northern most birds migrate south for the winter.  While growing up, we fondly remember their raspy "oak-a-lee" call as a sure sign of spring.  Their preferred habitat is around wetlands where tall grasses, reeds and cattails are present.  If you are near a marshy area, you should see them.

        For most of the species we have featured on our blog, the males and females are similar in appearance.  That is hardly the case for the Red-Winged Blackbird.  For them, their cone-shaped bills are similar and that's about it.  The male is glossy-black with beautiful red and yellow shoulder patches.  The female is streaked in brown with a buffy eyebrow.  Males are significantly larger than females.  The average male is around 9 inches in length (female is around 7), weighs about 2 1/2 ounces (female is about 1 1/2) with a wingspan of over 15 inches (female is over 12).   Immature Redwings resemble adult females.

        During the winter months our backyard is filled with a large mixed flock of Redwings, Brown-Headed Cowbirds and Common Grackles, often over 200 birds.  They empty our many feeders daily.  The noisy calls of that many birds is nearly deafening, but you can easily pick out the raspy trill of the Redwings.  When all the birds get spooked and take flight, the sound of hundreds of wingbeats at the same time is like a clap of thunder. 

        Click on the links below to learn more about this species.  Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Red-Winged Blackbird.....tweet.....tweet!!

Male taking flight.
(Taken 10/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Female perched on reeds.
(Taken 1/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Immature Male

(Taken 11/20/12, our backyard)

Male displaying on a boardwalk railing.
(Taken 4/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)

Female blending in with her favorite habitat.
(Taken 10/12/14, The Celery Fields, Sarasota FL)


http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-winged_blackbird/id


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird

Snowy Egret

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Snowy Egret.  This small, white Heron is a year-round resident of the Atlantic coast and Gulf coast states as well as most of South America and the Caribbean Islands. 

        Snowy Egrets are very sleek and elegant.  They are entirely white with black legs and bright yellow feet.  Their bill is long, black and needle like.  In breeding season their facial skin turns from bright yellow to a dull reddish-orange.  Adult males and females are similar in appearance.  Immature birds are similar to adults but with duller facial skin.  Snowy Egrets are 24 inches in length, weigh slightly less than a pound, with a wingspan of nearly 40 inches.

        There are several other white egrets in Florida; the Great Egret which is much larger with a very large yellow bill and the Cattle Egret which is slightly smaller with a thick yellow bill.  A more challenging I.D. is the immature Little Blue Heron.  A young Little Blue is also all white, but has a two-colored bill and green legs.

        Click on the links below to read how "plume" hunters threatened this species in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Snowy Egret.....tweet.....tweet!!  

Looking great in my yellow slippers.
(Taken 3/5/14, Ft. De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL)

In breeding plumage.
(Taken 4/11/14, Pinelands Preserve, Laurel FL)

In attack mode, this Snowy just flew in and chased
 off another Snowy in a territorial dispute.
(Taken 10/5/14, North Skyway Bridge rest area, Pinellas County FL)

Note the size difference
(Snowy Egret, left - Great Egret, right)
(Taken 7/16/14, Fort De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snowy_egret/id

                                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_egret

American Flamingo

        Today's featured feathered friend is the American Flamingo, one of six Flamingo species in the world.  At 46 inches in length (tip of bill to tip of tail), it is the second largest in size behind the Greater Flamingo (50 inches).  Their legs can be even longer than their body length, making them very tall birds.  Most other Flamingo species have differing shades of dull pink, making the American the most brightly colored Flamingo by far.  It has a pinkish/red plumage with stunning black flight feathers and long pink legs.  The bill is pink and white with a black tip.  Males and females are similar in appearance although males are much larger, much heavier and stand much taller than females. 

        On September 27th, we visited Flamingo Gardens in Davie Florida.  We finally saw a Flamingo.  We also saw lots of Indian Peafowl (Peacocks) roaming the park.  In the Wildlife Sanctuary, "rescued" birds are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  However, depending on the severity of their injuries, some birds become permanent residents at the Gardens.

        Once native to south Florida, the American Flamingo has been eradicated from the U.S.  It breeds in Central America and the Caribbean Islands.  Occasionally, they will stray as far north as the Florida Keys or Everglades National Park.  Perhaps some lucky day we'll be in the right place at the right time to score a Flamingo on our life list.  We can't count this sighting on our list because the rules of birding require birds to be free, wild and unrestrained.  Regardless, we have now seen Flamingos.  Enjoy these photos of the American Flamingo.....tweet.....tweet!!

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Pileated Woodpecker

        Today's featured feathered friend is the Pileated Woodpecker.  It is the largest woodpecker in North America and one of eight woodpecker species seen in Florida.  Like most other woodpeckers, the Pileated is non-migratory and resides year-round in its range.

      The Pileated is a very large, long-necked, long-tailed woodpecker with a massive bill.  They have a brownish-black back, wings and tail, with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest.  Males have a red "moustache" stripe and a red forehead.  Females have a black "moustache" stripe with a brownish-black forehead.  Juveniles are similar to adults but are a duller black with a dark eye and a pinkish crest, The average Pileated is 17 inches long, weighs 10 ounces and has a 28-inch wing span. 

         These birds eat mostly insects, especially carpenter ants.  They chip away large chunks of trees searching for ant colonies.  In breeding season they excavate nests in dead trees (snags), usually making multiple entrance holes.  After the young birds have left the nest, it is abandoned.  The site then becomes a home for song birds or other small animals.  Their distinctive "kekekeke" call is very loud and easily heard from long distances.

        Enjoy our favorite photos of the Pileated Woodpecker.....tweet.....tweet!!

Male Pileated Woodpecker
(Taken 2/27/13, Oyster Creek Regional Park, Englewood FL)

Female Pileated Woodpecker
(Taken 2/12/14, Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Fort Myers FL)

Pair of Pileated Woodpeckers
 (<--- male; female ---->) at nesting site (out of picture on the right)
(Taken 2/20/13, Oyster Creek Regional Park, Englewood FL)


http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/id


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileated_woodpecker