What Season Do Birds Come To The Everglades To Lay Their Eggs?
The Everglades are full of birds laying eggs and caring for their babies during the dry season. That may be the opposite of what you were thinking, but there are a few reasons it does make sense. There are other nesting seasons for other kinds of birds, so let’s take a little bit closer look at the intricacies of bird nesting.
If you are planning to come to the Everglades to see birds, this post will help you schedule the best time to visit!
What Is Nesting Season for Coastal Birds?
Coastal birds prefer the months from March to September for their nesting. They build their nests by the sea, so whether it is a wet or dry season within the Everglades doesn’t affect them as much as wading birds.
Shore Birds Vs Marsh Birds – Different Seasons?
Different kinds of wading birds in the Everglades, such as Wood Storks, Brown Pelicans, Snowy Egrets, and so many others, prefer the dry season for building their nests and raising their young. They like it best when, just at the end of the wet season, there is a lot of rainfall and water buildup, and then there’s a quick dry down. This leaves the fish clustered together in smaller bodies of water, making them easy to catch and abundant.
Dry season in the Everglades is from December to April.
What Are Super Colonies?
Super colonies are when tens of thousands of birds gather for breeding season. In 2018, the Everglades saw two supercolonies in the park, which hadn’t happened since the 1940s!
Bird Watching at Everglades National Park – The 10 Most Common Birds To Spot:
We are outside Everglades National Park, but there will be some similarities on what you may see during one of our tours.
Barred Owl
The hooting call of the Barred Owl is a sound often associated with old forests and thick swamps. It’s an attractive owl with big, brown eyes and white-and-brown striped plumage that can go completely unnoticed in the branchy trees as it watches for prey or snoozes comfortably.
Sandhill Crane
The Sandhill Crane is a tall, leggy bird with a call that is distinctly loud. It sounds like a rolling trumpet, and the noise carries far, especially since the birds like to group up for their calls, adding extra volume to the cry.
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron are adept at moonlight fishing because of their incredible night vision. They are most common near shores of open water and in wetlands throughout most of North and Central America.
Anhinga
The Anhinga (also known as a snakebird, darter, water turkey, or American darter) is a water bird without waterproof plumage. The word “anhinga” comes from a word in the Brazilian Tupi language that translates to either “devil bird” or snake bird.”
Roseate Spoonbill
The roseate spoonbill is a bright pink that reminds viewers of the American Flamingo. The birds hunt their prey by swooping their bills through shallow fresh or saltwater. By doing this, they can catch up with crustaceans and fish by the mouthful! They nest in areas along the coastal southeastern U.S.
Magnificent Frigatebird
The Magnificent Frigatebird is always an eye-catcher. It’s large, with broad wings, and the males have a bright red pouch that it inflates to attract females. With their incredible maneuvering abilities, these birds steal food from other birds in midair!
Wood Stork
The Wood Stork is among the tallest of wetland birds, standing just over three feet tall. It has a long neck and legs, which it utilizes as it trudges through the wetlands with its big bill down in the water, eating until it’s content. You can usually find the stork roosting and nesting in colonies in the trees that stand above the water.
Red-Shouldered Hawk
You always know you’re near tall woods and water when you see a Red-Shouldered Hawk. They enjoy sweeping through the air on the hunt for mice, frogs, snakes, and other small prey. It is among the most distinctively marked common hawks.
White Ibis
White Ibises use their curved, red bill to probe muddy surfaces below the water in search of delicious aquatic invertebrates. When they reach adulthood, their feathers are all white except the beautiful black wingtips.
Florida Bald Eagle Nesting Behavior
In Florida, it’s typical for females to lay a clutch of 1-3 eggs sometime between December and early January. The nets are very large and are usually found less than two miles from water. A record nest in St. Petersburg, Florida, stood at 20 feet tall and 9.5 feet in diameter!
Bald Eagles are opportunistic predators that feed on whatever they can catch when their favorite meal of fish isn’t readily available, so keep your small pets close at hand!
How To Get Kids Into Bird-Watching
Kids love interactive activities. Forcing them to sit silently and perfectly still for hours probably isn’t going to win their heart to bird watching, so it’s important to have things that they can do and ways they can connect with the birds and the activity.
Consider having a bird book with sketches of the birds you observe. You can take the sketches inside and color them in using a field guide or a photo that you took. Mimic bird songs and sing them back and forth to each other. Build a birdhouse together. Putting in effort causes both children and adults to be invested. Spend some time investing in the activity to garner interest.
Wading Birds At Everglades Holiday Park in South Florida –
If you’re ready to spot more than ducks at your local duck pond, consider an airboat tour at Everglades Holiday Park. Most times of the year, you can spot dozens of species of wading birds from an invigorating ride across the water.
The fan favorite at our park is the peacock. Though they aren’t native to Florida, they love being a part of our park and being photographed by all the visitors!
