Wildlife
Boat Tailed Grackles
Silhouetted by the late evening sky, a pair of boat tailed grackles, perch above the Savannas Preserve in south Florida.
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Speedy Spoonbill
A roseate spoonbill glides over the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched.
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Perched Red Shouldered Hawk
A red-shouldered hawk perches high in a tree as dusk settles in at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. This haw usually hunts by watching from a perch, either within forest or in open, swooping down when it locates prey. Sometimes flies very low in open areas, taking creatures by surprise. May use hearing as well as sight to locate prey.
Spoonbill Winging It
A roseate spoonbill's large wings help give it a quick takeoff from the wetlands at the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched.
Snowy Egret Flying
Snowy Egret flies over a Marion County lake in the glow of the evening sun. Adult Snowy Egrets are all white with a black bill, black legs, and yellow feet. Snowy Egrets nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places—such as barrier islands, dredge-spoil islands, salt marsh islands, swamps, and marshes.
White Ibis Dripping
A large White Ibis searches the swamp for insects at Highlands Hammock state park in central Florida.
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Wood Stork Stare
The wood stork usually lives in Cypress swamps, marshes, pond and lagoons. The large bird forages mainly in fresh water, including shallow marshes, flooded farm fields, ponds, ditches and favors falling water levels (when fish and other prey likely to be more concentrated in remaining pools). The species was down-listed from endangered to threatened in June 2014.