Shorebirds, Waterbirds and Wading Birds

Great Blue Heron

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GREAT BLUE HERON : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Great Blue Heron

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Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Great Blue Heron on your next visit

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

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YELLOW CROWN NIGHT HERON : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

A nocturnal heron of the southern swamps and coasts, the Yellow Crowned Night Heron can also be found breeding alond wooded streams northward to Indiana and Illinois.
Cool Facts:
Its name may imply nocturnal but the Yellow Crowned Night Heron is active both day and night. Even with its daytime activities, the handsome bird's slow movement, along with its shy behavior makes it dificult to spot. Found throughout the eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma and southeastern part of the United States, the Yellow Crowned Night Heron is generally found in shallow backwaters and wetland areas. The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is a short stocky bird about 24 inches in length with a wingspan of a little under four feet. It has long yellow to orange legs, red eyes, a black bill and a short neck. The adults are a soft blue gray, blackish on wings and tail, with a creamy white crown accented by a black face and a white cheek patch. During breeding season, adults have a yellow plume of feathers on their head. The young, appearing in mid June are uniformly brown streaked. The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is a migratory bird. During the winter, it can be found as far south as South America, but can be found almost anywhere along the Gulf and Atlantic coast year round.
Habitat:
Marsh
Food:
Unlike other heron species, the Yellow Crowned Night Heron forages day and night. It forages much like other herons by wading through water waiting for its prey to come within striking distance. Also, unlike the Great Heron, which many have seen standing motionless like a statue in many Florida waters, the Yellow Crowned Night Heron will stir up its quarry by wading briskly at the waters edge. With a quick motion, the sword like bill stabs its prey. The prey of a Yellow Croned Night Heron normally consists of fish, frogs, grasshoppers and occaisionally snakes, but its primary diet is crustaceans. It is also not uncommon to see one prey upon a small turtle since it has a unique stomach acid to help digest the shell.
Nesting:
During breeding season, the Yellow Crowned Night Heron will build a nest of sticks and twigs measuring two or three feet across. This nest is generally a substantial platform that can be found on the ground or low lying tree by a body of water. The female will lay three to five eggs that are a pale bluish green in color. Both the male and female will take turns incubating the eggs. The eggs hatch in about three weeks and both parents care for the chicks feeding them regurgitated food. The chicks fledge when they are about 25 days old.
Conservation:
The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is a common wetland bird in Florida but is listed as threatened in many of the states within its northeastern range. Loss of wetland habitat has had the greatest impact on this species. With continued conservation of our wetland areas and development of new areas we can help preserve the viewing of this species for many generations to come.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Yellow Crown Night Herons on your next visit.

Black Crown Night Heron

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BLACK CROWN NIGHT HERON : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Black Crown Night Heron

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Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Black Crown Night Herons on your next visit

Little Green Heron

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LITTLE GREEN HERON : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Little Green Heron

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Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Little Green Heron on your next visit

White Ibis

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WHITE IBIS : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

White Ibis

The white Ibis is a striking white wading bird with a long distinctively decurved bill. It usually nests, feeds and flies in large conspecific flocks and in many ways epitomizes the freshwater and coastal wetlands of the Southwestern United States. Historically one of the most abundant of North American wading birds, it still maintains large regional populations with a few nesting colonies of 20,000 - 30,000 pairs.
Cool Facts:
This is a bird of freshwater and estuarine wetlands, typically cypress swamps, bottomland hardwood and mangrove swamps, as well as feshwater and swale marshes. Ibises are known for frequent shifts in roost and colony sites, substantial dispersal and migration distances, and variable breeding seasons. Nomadic movements and flexible reproductive schedules allow the Ibis to exploit the changing availability of shallow water feeding sites and concentration of its main prey, crustraceans and small fish. Because of salt stress, nestlings do not develop normally on brackish water crustaceans, so nearby freshwater feeding sites are essential for successful breeding at coastal colonies. The dependence of White Ibis on favourable feeding conditions in wetlands, the conspicuous nature of their large flocks and colonies and their eye catching appearancehas made the species a symbol for wetland conservation and restoration especially in Florida where Ibis habitat is threatened by development, pollution and water management. Numerous studies have investigated trends in White Ibis distribution, abundance, reproductive success and Ibis contaminant levels and used this information to infer ecosystem health. No subspecies are recognized, but the Scarlet Ibis of South America is closely related and is considered by some to be a conspecific color morph.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our White Ibis on your next visit

Pied-Billed Grebe

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PIED BILLED GREBE : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Pied Billed Grebe

A small diving bird with a chicken like bill, the Pied Billed Grebe is common on lakes and ponds across North America. It is rarely seen flying and prefers to sink out of sight when danger threatens.
Cool Facts:
The Pied Billed Grebe is rarely seen in flight, it prefers to escape predators by diving and it migrates at night. However, it can fly and stray individuals have reached Hawaii and Europe. Although it swims like a duck, the Pied Billed Grebe does not have webbed feet. Instead of having webbing connecting all the toes, each toe has lobes extending out on the sides that provide extra surface area for padding. The downy chicks can leave the nest soon after hatching but they do not swim well at first and do not spend much time in the water in the first week. They sleep on the back of a parent held close beneath its wings. By the age of 4 weeks the young Grebes are spending day and night on the water. For the first ten days their response to danger is to climb on a parent's back. After that, when danger threatens, they dive under water.
Habitat:
Breeds on seasonal or permanent ponds with dense stands of emergent vegatation, bays and sloughs. Uses most types of wetlands in the winter.
Food:
Fish, crustaceans (especially crayfish) and aquatic insects.
Nesting:
An open bowl in a platform of floating vegatation.
Behavior:
Dives underwater for food in open water and among aquatic vegatation.
Conservation:
Common, Breeding populations declining in some areas, especially at edge of range.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Pied Billed Grebe on your next visit

Herring Gull

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HERRING GULL : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Herring Gull

The Herring Gull is the quintessential basic "seagull", with no distinctive characters that immediately set it apart from other gull species. The characteristic gull of the North Atlantic, it can be found across much of North America.
Cool Facts:
The Herring Gull is part of a complex of large white headed gulls that breed across the northern hemisphere. Some people consider all of the forms as one species, while others would recognize 10 or more species. The Lesser Black Backed and Yellow Legged gulls are currently recognized as different species, but birds intermediate between them and the Herring Gull occur. Only one form, the American Herring Gull is common in North America, but several others such as the Vega Gull and the European Herring Gull may be rare visitors. The Herring Gull has extended its breeding range southward along the Atlantic coast and may be displacing the more southern Laughing Gull from some areas. At the northern end of its range, however, the Herring Gull itself is being displaced by increasing numbers of the Great Black Backed Gull. Young Herring Gulls appear to be more migratory than adults. In some areas, such as the Great Lakes, most adults remain near their breeding grounds, but the nonbreeders move further south in the fall. The Herring Gull regularly drinks fresh water when it's available. If none is around, the gull will drink seawater. Special glands located over its eyes allow it to excrete the salt. The salty excretion can be seen dropping out of the gulls nostrils and off the end of its bill.
Habitat:
Breeds on Islands. Forages and winters at sea, along beaches and mudflats, at dumps and other areas where human produced food is available. Rests in open areas, including parking lots, fields and airports.
Food:
Fish, marine invertabrates, insects, bird eggs, carrion and garbage.
Nesting:
Nest is a scrape in sand or dirt lined with vegatation, feathers, plastic or nothing at all.
Behavior:
Captures prey while walking or swimming, dips food from surface of water. Steals food from other birds. Drops large hard food items on rock or sand to break them open.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see "Harry", our Herring Gull on your next visit

Laughing Gull

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LAUGHING GULL : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Laughing Gull

A smallish gull with a black head, the Laughing Gull is abundant along the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Infrequently found away from the ocean, it takes advantage of human habitat modifications, foraging in parkinglots and dumps and breeding on dredge spoil islands.
Cool Facts:
Nest colonies in the northeastern United States were nearly eliminated by egg and plume hunters in the last century, following protection. The male and female Laughing Gull usually build their nest together. If a male cannot find a mate, he may start building a nest platform and then use it to attract a female. The adult Laughing Gull removes the eggshells from the nest after the eggs hatch. If the shells are not removed, a piece can become lodged on top of the slightly smaller unhatched third egg and prevent it from hatching. The Laughing Gull is normally diurnal, being active during the day. During the breeding season it forages at night as well. It usually looks for food along the beach at night, but will also hover to catch insects around lights.
Habitat:
Nests in marshes, on beaches and on islands along the coast. Found along coasts, in estuaries, bays and inland lakes. Feeds along the ocean, on rivers, at landfills and in urban parks.
Food:
Aquatic invertabrates, terrestrial invertabrates, fish, squid, garbage, flying insects and berries.
Nesting:
A flat platform of marsh grasses. Nests in colonies.
Behavior:
Forages while walking or swimming. Will steal food from Terns and Pelicans

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Laughing Gulls on your next visit

Ring Billed Gull

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RING BILLED GULL : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Ring Billed Gull

A familiar parking lot gull, the Ring Billed Gull breeds primarily inland in North America. It can be found along the coasts but many of the "seagulls" never see anything except fresh water all their lives.
Cool Facts:
Young Ring Billed Gulls tested at only two days of age showed a preference for magnetic bearing that would take them in the appropriate direction for their fall migrations. Many, if not most Ring Billed Gulls return to breed at the colony where they hatched. Once they have bred, they are likely to return to the same breeding spot every year, often nesting within a few meters of the last year's nest site. Many individuals return to the same wintering sites each winter too. Although it is considered a typical large white headed gull, the Ring Billed Gull has been known to hybridize only with smaller black headed species, such as Franklin's, Black Headed and Laughing Gulls.
Habitat:
Nests on Islands. Found around fresh water, landfills, golf courses, farm fields, shopping areas and coastal beaches.
Food:
Fish, insects, earthworms, rodents, grain and garbage.
Nesting:
Nests in a scrape on ground or vegatation filled with twigs, sticks, grasses, leaves, lichens and mosses. Nests in colonies.
Behavior:
Forages while walking on land, dips for food on surface of water, skims shallow water for small fish and hawks for flying insects.
Conservation:
Hunting for the millinery trade nearly extirpated it from parts of its range in the 1800's. Now common and widespread and is expanding its breeding range.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Ring Billed Gulls on your next visit

Cattle Egret

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CATTLE EGRET : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Cattle Egret

A small white heron of pastures and roadsides, the Cattle Egret is more at home foraging in grass than in water. It follows cattle, horses and tractors to catch the insects they stir up.
Cool Facts:
The Cattle Egret is native to Africa and Asia and only reached the Americas in the late 19th century. It was first found in Northeastern South America in 1877 having probably arrived there from Africa. It reached the United States in 1941 and started nesting by 1953. In the next 50 years it became one of the most abundant of the North American Herons. It has occured all the way to Alaska and Newfoundland and had bred in nearly all states. The Cattle Egret is an opportunistic feeder and will follow large animals or machines to catch insects they stir up. It is also attracted by smoke from a large fire. Egrets come from long distances to catch insects trying to escape the fire. The Cattle Egret occasionally adds birds to its diet. At Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida, migrating Cattle Egrets land on the large green lawn inside the fort, probably hoping for some nice grasshoppers. Because no insects are there to be had, the egrets try to catch the migrating warblers that have also stopped on the tiny island.
Habitat:
Breeds in colonies with other herons on islands, isolated woods and swamps. Found foraging in many habitats, terrestrial and aquatic, such as ponds, cattle pastures, roadsides, farmland, dumps, parks, sports fields and lawns.
Food:
Grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, flies, frogs and moths.
Nesting:
Shallow bowl shaped nest of sticks placed in trees and shrubs in colonies with other herons.
Behavior:
Follows and rides large mammals and catches insects they stir up. Forages in flocks.
Conservation:
May still be expanding breeding range, but populations in some areas are declining.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Cattle Egret on your next visit

Sandwich Tern

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SANDWICH TERN : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Sandwich Tern

A bird of marine coasts of the southeastern United States and the Carribbean, the Sandwich Tern is readily identified by its shaggy crest and yellow tipped black bill.
Cool Facts:
The two subspecies of Sandwich Tern breeding in North America and Eurasia have black bills with yellow tips. A third subspecies known as the "Cayenne Tern" is found in the Southern Carribbean and the Atlantic Coast of South America which has an all yellow bill.
Habitat:
Seacoasts, bays, estuaries, mud flats and occaisionally ocean far from land.
Food:
Small fish and some invertabrates.
Nesting:
On the ground.
Behavior:
Flies over water with bill pointing down, plunges into water to catch fish.
Conservation:
Major declines noted in Old and New World during the 19th century mostly due to millenery trade and egg collecting. Recent increases in population size noted in most of range.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Sandwich Tern on your next visit

Caspian Tern

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CASPIAN TERN : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Caspian Tern

As large as a big full, the Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world. Its large coral red bill makes it one of the most easily identified terns throughout its world wide range.
Cool Facts:
The oldest known wild Caspian Tern lived to be more than 26 years old. The average lifespan of Great Lakes Caspian Terns is estimated to be 12 years. The Caspian Tern aggressively defends its breeding colony. It will pursue, chase and attack potential predatory birds and can cause bloody wounds on the heads of people who invade the colony. The entire colony will take flight, however, when a Bald Eagle flies overhead, exposing the chicks to predation from gulls. The largest breeding colony in North America is off the east coast of Oregon. Increasing numbers of terns at this site have caused problems with young salmon releases, some of them an endangered species. Efforts are being made to move the colony to other areas. Young Caspian Terns appear to have a difficult time learning to catch fish efficiently. They stay with their parents for long periods of time and are fed by them even on the wintering grounds. Many young terns do not return to the nesting grounds for several years remaining instead on the wintering areas.
Habitat:
Breeds in a wide variety of habitats along water, such as salt marshes, barrier islands, dredge spoil islands, fresh water lake islands and river islands. During migration and winter found along coastlines, large rivers and lakes. Roosts on islands and isolated spits.
Food:
Almost entirely fish, occaisionally crayfish and insects.
Nesting:
A scrape in the ground lined often with dried vegatation, small pebbles, broken shells and other debris. May have an elaborate rim of sticks. Nesting colonies occur on island beaches, often near colonies of other bird species.
Behavior:
Flies over water with bill pointing down, plunging into water to catch fish.
Conservation:
Numbers increasing across North America using man made dredge spoil islands and dikes for breeding. Declining in Europe. It is listed as rare or vulnerable in some areas because of the scattered nature of breeding colonies. Beach nesting areas are vulnerable to disturbance and predation.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Caspian Tern on your next visit

Royal Tern

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ROYAL TERN : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Royal Tern

A large orange billed tern, the Royal Tern is found only along ocean beaches.
Cool Facts:
The Royal Tern makes its nest scrape on the ground on low lying islands. The pair defecates directly on the nest rim, perhaps to reinforce the nest against flooding. After a few weeks the nest rim hardens. Young Royal Terns leave the nest scrape within one day after hatching and congregate together ina group known as the Crache. Eventually all of the chicks in a colony come to the Crache which can have thousands of chicks ranging in age from two to 35 days old. A pair of Royal Terns will feed only their own chicks, managing to find it in the crowd, probably recognizing its call.
Habitat:
Shoreline
Food:
Fish
Nesting:
A scrape on the ground. Nesting colonies occur on island beaches.
Behavior:
Flies over water with bill pointing down plunging into water to catch fish.
Conservation:
United States population appears stable.

Be sure to stop by the Shorebird Habitat and see our Royal Tern on your next visit