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Spotting My Florida Birds on their Maine Breeding Grounds

10,000 Birds

Note: Erika is the Communications Director for Audubon Florida. During a chilly Florida day (yes, we have those) a few months ago, I drove thirty minutes outside of Tallahassee to a co-worker’s house for the singular purpose of checking out her bird feeders. I never expected another opportunity to see a Purple Finch in 2021.

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Birding for One Species: American Goldfinch

10,000 Birds

But for a week of mornings during a trip to Maine, none of that bothered me, because I was on the lookout for only one species: the American Goldfinch. Unlike so many other beloved North American bird species, their populations have been relatively stable since the mid-20th century, hovering around 44 million breeding birds.

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ABA Field Guides to Birds of Colorado and Florida

10,000 Birds

I was birding one of my favorite places yesterday, Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Palm Beach County, Florida, and, as generally happens, people were asking me about the birds they were admiring. Species Accounts in both titles are arranged loosely in ABA Checklist order, with some flipping around of order within each family.

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Count Your Chickens (In the Florida Keys)

10,000 Birds

We can, of course, count wild, native, species. We can count vagrant species that made it to the area we are in under their own power. We can count introduced species that have met the criteria of the “Bird Police” for the area to which they are introduced. There are lots of birds we can’t count.

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Counting Feral Muscovy Ducks in Florida

10,000 Birds

I was at the Blue Heron Wetlands in Titusville, Florida, during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival hoping to connect with a Purple Gallinule that the field trip I co-led with Laura Erickson failed to find. The birds in Florida, on the other hand, are of domestic stock gone feral. And why is it still there?

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What is the State Bird of Florida?

10,000 Birds

Florida is one of America’s great avian hot spots, renowned for its impressive bird diversity. The official Florida checklist counts over 500 species, and thus Florida citizens had a wealth of State Bird candidates to choose from when they named the Florida state bird in 1927. The striking Snail Kite?

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Mallards are a Threat to Mottled Ducks in Florida

10,000 Birds

Florida is known as the Sunshine State. It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. Most were introduced, meaning they were brought to Florida by humans.

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