FLMNH Ichthyology Department: South Florida Aquatic Environments

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South Florida Aquatic Environments

Estuarine and Marine Waters

BIRDS

Roseate Spoonbill
*© Gerald and Buff Corsi, California Academy of Sciences*

Estuarine and Marine Waters:

Native Fauna: Birds

Estuarine and marine habitats provide habitat and nesting areas for many birds

This habitat is home to wading and probing shorebirds, oceanic birds, and diving birds. The roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja), reddish egret (Egretta refescens), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and black-crowned night heron (Botaurus lentiginosus) are all known to nest within the habitats surrounding Florida Bay.

Great Blue Heron
*© H. Vannoy Davis, California Academy of Sciences*

Snowy Egret
*courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*

Other birds commonly observed include:

great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
great white heron (Ardea herodias)
white ibis (Eudocimus albus)
glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
wood stork (Mycteria americana)
great egret (Casmerodius albus)
snowy egret (Egretta thula)
little blue heron (Egretta caerulae)
tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor)
green-backed heron (Butorides striatus)
yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator)
common merganser (Mergus merganser)
osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
southern bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus)

Black-necked Stilt
*© Gerald and Buff Corsi, California Academy of Sciences*

Shoreline birds include the willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus), snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia), and the black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus).