Black Necked Stilt Flock

Video: Black Necked Stilt Flock

A small flock of aptly-named Black Necked Stilts - one of Florida’s most striking shorebirds, the slim, extremely long-legged, Black-Necked Stilt feeds while wading in shallow wetlands, salt ponds and flooded fields. They eat aquatic insects, small fish, larvae, beetles and tadpoles, and sometimes sweep their bills from side-to-side while feeding, like spoonbills and avocets.

More than 1000 pairs of black-necked stilts are thought to breed in Florida, mostly south of Daytona Beach and Homosassa Springs. Breeding pairs are easy to spot as they defend their nest vigorously with dive-bombing displays and loud vocalizations. Look for them around Cape Canaveral, Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, the phosphate mines of Polk and Hillsborough counties, and the Water Conservation Areas of western Palm Beach County. They also breed along the southeastern coast of Florida and in the Keys.

Black-necked stilts nest on the ground or on platforms of dried vegetation. The female usually lays four eggs and both parents take turns with nesting duties. In very hot weather, adult birds sometimes cool the eggs by wetting their belly feathers before taking up their post on the nest. In Florida most chicks hatch in the first week of June—they can walk well enough to leave the nest within a few hours and swim within 24 hours. Black-necked stilt parents are very solicitous and will aggressively chase other birds away from the chicks.

http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/birds/Black-necked_Stilt.php

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Video: Black Necked Stilt Flock

American Bittern

Video: American Bittern

American Bittern is rarely seen stalking prey in reedy marshes. The medium size heron is filmed in typical habitat as it easily blends in with marsh grasses. This is my first clear capture of this elusive bird.

This streaky, brown and buff heron can materialize among the reeds, and disappear as quickly, especially when striking a concealment pose with neck stretched and bill pointed skyward. These stealthy carnivores stand motionless amid tall marsh vegetation, or patiently stalk fish, frogs, and insects. They are at their most noticeable in spring, when the marshes resound with their odd booming calls that sounds like the gulps of a thirsty giant.

Size & Shape

American Bitterns are medium-sized herons with thick, compact bodies. They have shorter legs and thicker necks than typical herons and a slightly hunched posture. The daggerlike bill is long, straight, and sharply pointed. The wings are broad but the wingtips are somewhat pointed.

Color Pattern

American Bitterns are mostly warm brown, buff, and white. They are strongly streaked, especially on the neck, and they can be very hard to see against marsh vegetation. In flight the dark outer wings contrast sharply with the brown of the rest of the bird.

Behavior

Bitterns are stealth predators and typically stand motionless as they wait for prey to approach, or stalk it with barely perceptible motions. They adopt a classic pose when alarmed, with the beak pointing straight up, helping this streaky bird blend in with its reedy background. They tend to forage alone.

Habitat

Look for American Bitterns in shallow freshwater marshes, typically toward the margins and among reeds and other vegetation; they are rarely out in the open.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Bittern/id

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Video: American Bittern

Snowy Egret Fishing - Oh those Yellow Feet!

Video: Snowy Egret Fishing - Oh those Yellow Feet!

Beautiful Snowy Egret with bright yellow feet, uses them to help stir up fish while hunting. Unlike most herons that patiently sit and wait to strike a fish, the Snowy Egret is on the move - stirring up the bottom and exciting fish with those big yellow feet and covering a lot of ground to stalk fish. Snowy Egrets are one of my favorite birds with their striking pure white plumage and sexy yellow feet they always make my day! If you've never seen on on the move you are in for a treat!

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Video: Snowy Egret Fishing - Oh those Yellow Feet!

InterSpecies Bird Friendships

Video:  Inter Species Bird Friendships

A juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron and juvenile White Ibis have bonded and become good buddies. I followed these two young birds at a distance for quite awhile on a trail before it occurred to me what was going on and take a video. I got a little too close in the beginning and you can sense I'm cramping their style - I stayed back and they continued on their morning stroll together looking for tasty bugs to dig out of the ground. 

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Video:  Inter Species Bird Friendships

Tricolored Heron (Louisiana Heron)- Up Close

Video: Tricolored Heron (Louisiana Heron)- Up Close

Beautiful Tricolored Heron (Louisiana Heron) feeding or foraging in a variety of habitats. Much smaller than the Great Blue Heron.

On the southeastern coastal plain, the Tricolored Heron is a characteristic bird of quiet shallow waters. Strikingly slender, with long bill, neck, and legs, it is often seen wading belly-deep in coastal lagoons. Although it is solitary in its feeding, it is sociable in nesting, often in very large colonies with various other herons and egrets. Formerly known as Louisiana Heron.

A species of special concern in Florida: Most nesting colonies occur on mangrove islands or in willow thickets in fresh water, but nesting sites include other woody thickets on islands or over standing water. Prefers coastal environments. Feeds in a

variety of permanently and seasonally flooded wetlands, mangrove swamps, tidal creeks, ditches, and edges of ponds and lakes. Seasonal variation in water levels are particularly critical to nesting success, so alteration of wetlands used during breeding season can have negative consequences.

Forages in shallow water by standing still and waiting for prey to approach, or by walking very slowly; sometimes more active, stirring bottom sediments with one foot, or dashing in pursuit of schools of fish. Solitary in foraging, driving away others from small "feeding territory."

Diet

Mostly fish. Eats mainly small fish of no economic value, also crustaceans (crayfish, prawns), insects (aquatic insects and grasshoppers), tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, lizards, spiders.

http://www.fnai.org/fieldguide/pdf/egretta_tricolor.pdf

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Video: Tricolored Heron (Louisiana Heron)- Up Close