15 amazing birds to see in Everglades

Everglades has the distinction among many natural parks of having one of the largest natural habitats for a variety of animals to live in. The variety of birds is not just limited to mammals, but you will see a lot of reptiles, marine species, and many beautiful birds as well. Here we will limit our discussion to birds only as that is one of the Unique Selling Point of this Everglades National Park for the tourists that come in. The different birds when hum together creates a very majestic atmosphere which people coming over to the park really enjoy.

Top 15 birds to see in the Everglades National Park:

Here is our list of the top 15 birds which you can see when visiting the Everglades National Park.

1. Wood Stork:

Wood Stork is a lovely wading bird type and is popular among the other birds with its special way of feeding. It held its beak in water and shuffles its feet. The frightened fishes tend to swim away from its feet and eventually gets bumped in the beak of the bird. The beak is quite sensitive and can easily sense the fish nearby and it clamps on it within no time. According to many experts of birds, it is believed that such a movement of this bird is perhaps the fastest they have ever seen of any bird living in the Everglades. This bird got marked federally as an endangered species until the year 2014 when it was reevaluated to be tagged as a threatened species with a slight increase in its numbers.

2. Heron:

Heron is another popular type of a wading bird that you can see and enjoy at the Everglades National Park. It is a slightly smaller wading bird than the wood stork, but the feeding tricks of this pretty bird are quite fun to watch. It is known to stalk quite slowly in the shallow water areas or they get hanged themselves from a low branch of a tree. When its strike for its prey then the dart like the jab of this species is hardly known to miss its target.

3. Snail kite:

Snail kite is a highly endangered species that exist in the Everglades. It is a bird of prey that belongs to the Accipitridae family and that also includes the likes of hawks and the eagles. The total population of such birds is not more than 400 breeding pairs in the park. According to a research conducted, the water-level control is actually resulting in the depletion of the apple snail’s population. However, the species is not known to be threatened generally over its quite extensive range.

4. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker:

This bird is very commonly found in the southeastern North America and also in the Everglades. Some taxonomic authorities such as the American Ornithological Society have placed this adorable species in the genus Picoides. The bird is primarily known for feeding upon the ants, caterpillars, beetles, spiders and the cockroaches.

5. Piping Plover:

It is a san colored small shorebird that feeds and nests along the gravel beaches and the coastal sand of North America, and are also found in the Everglades. The adult bird has yellowish legs, a black strip along the breast line and a black band that runs on top of the head from eye to eye. The chest band is found to be quite prominent in the male ad is the only reliable way to distinguish between the sexes of this bird.

6. Bald Eagle:

The Bald Eagle is also alternately known as Sea Eagle and has at least 2 known subspecies. You will find this eagle in the wilderness of the Everglades National Park, especially close to the large areas of open water with endless feeding options and rely on the old-growth trees for its nesting.

7. Bittern:

This one is quite a tough species to spot in the Everglades. It lives in solitary and is usually found to hide in the sawgrass, cattails or the rushes. Bitterns are known to feed mainly on the frogs, small fish, and some other insects. People in the Everglades are more familiar with its sweet voice rather than how it looks.

8. Caracara:

It belongs to the falcon family and is also commonly referred as a hawk or an eagle. They are quite large in size and easily recognizable due to its special white and orange beak. You will find it mostly on the ground in the Everglades, rather than fly as that is a typical behavior of this type of bird.

9. Limpkin:

They are known to be quite similar to the heron and the Ibis. It is distinctive from other birds with its specially shaped bill which it uses for hunting snails on which it relies on for its feeding. They look beautiful with the long and slim legs and are usually found in the swamps and marshes of the park while hunting for food.

10. Stilt:

This one is a black-necked bird which is small in size but quite aggressive while hunting its food. It uses long beak to find its food which normally are the crabs, small fish, snails and the shrimps. It is usually found in the mudflats of the park and can rely on almost anything among the small insects, for its food.

11. Swallow-tailed Kite:

This bird in the Everglades do exist but it is quite difficult to sight. It is because this bird used to fly most of the time and you will hardly see it resting on a tree branch or anywhere else on the ground. They are quite large in size and are distinctive among other birds with its uniquely fork-shaped tail, with some intense markings.

12. Roseate Spoonbill:

This is a special bird with unique colors of striking pink and yellowish head. It is a great sight to watch a group of Roseate Spoonbill feeding together in a mudflat as the water shimmers pink. It is known to spend most of its day while feeding in the swamps or other shallow waters and make use of its long bill to catch crabs, shrimps and small fish for its food.

13. Cattle Egret:

This one is a small sized bird and is found to be white adorned which adds to its beauty with the toned plumes as well in the breeding season. It lives near water areas and feeds normally in the grassy habitats of the park. If you want to catch a glimpse of this bird in the Everglades, then try looking out for them in the prairie locales.

14. Coots:

This is an average size bird and is found to be in black color, primarily, along with large size bill shield. You will usually find them in the park in very large groups and they use to take a run on the ground before they can take off for flying, and that is a real fun sight to watch.

15. Dove:

Eurasian Collared is the most common type of Dove bird that you can find in the Everglades. He Mourning Dove (native) is also found here which is found to be quite timid than the other. The birds are known to fly at a speed of 55MPH which is quite unusual to see among many other birds.