article thumbnail

Everglades Long-Legged Birds Feed Their Young To Alligators, Everything is Good.

10,000 Birds

This example is important because it appears that the protector species, not just the protected species, gains a benefit, the latter having been documented many times before. Previous research has shown that wading bird nesting colonies could provide substantial food for alligators in the form of dropped chicks.

article thumbnail

A Single Purple Gallinule

10,000 Birds

Mom became especially enraptured with the baby alligators we spotted – less than a foot long, they basked in the grass next to their mothers, or crawled atop her back and tail for extra protection. Baby alligators. The species was a life-bird for my mother. I so badly wanted to spot their chicken-like forms. Cute right?

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Returning to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

10,000 Birds

A giant alligator lolled near a pond, herons and egrets stalked the shallow mudflats for prey, Black Skimmers flew low over the surface of the water to scoop up tiny fish. And I never forget to look for alligators. The highlight for me in the inland wetlands remains a Marbled Godwit , my first. The best part?

Wildlife 131
article thumbnail

How The Bird Got Its Beak

10,000 Birds

The feature distinguishes birds from other species; All birds have them, no other species do. Beaks vary across different kinds of birds, and this great diversity in beaks is part of the great diversity of the 10,000+ species of birds that exist today; Beaks thus facilitated the diversification of birds. Here’s the thing.

article thumbnail

Graduation Birds

10,000 Birds

So, on the morning of his Gainesville commencement ceremony, I amused myself the way any birder would: how many species could I see from the stadium? The University of Florida’s mascot is an alligator, but a Red-tailed Hawk is a good emblem for any transition from one phase of life to the next. Red-tailed Hawk in Flight.

article thumbnail

GUYANA–Simply Delicious Birding!

10,000 Birds

That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.

Guyana 279
article thumbnail

Waderfest!

10,000 Birds

It was all to easy to catch opportunities for inter-species interactions, like the one below consisting of four species of fish-eaters. No, this is not Florida, but we have American Alligators in the Carolinas as well. Modern humans may have little to fear from alligators, but deep in our conscious we remember.