Wading Birds &

Waterfowl
Annie Goyanes & Skylar Stinson

https://www.q-files.com/life/birds/wading-birds
https://health.wusf.usf.edu/post/are-we-making-progress-everglades-restoration-ask-floridas-
wading-birds

• Plume Trade in the late 1800s. Egret feathers were the highly priced, more than
History of Wading gold. 

Birds/Waterfowl in •

•
1900: Plume hunting is banned

During the wet season, Lake O overflows and the slow-moving, shallow water
Everglades flows south through wet prairies, mangroves, cypress swamps, and marshes. 

• The flow of water has been restricted due to urban and agricultural
development and flood control structures
https://wildlife.ca.gov/duck-stamp
• More than 360 different species of birds sighthing. 16 different species of
https://fl.audubon.org/news/wading-bird-supercolonies-america%E2%80%99s-everglades-
tell-us-something-we-already-knew

Wading Bird Rookeries Most wading birds' nest in large colonies, typically in trees or small islands like tree islands in Everglades
Rookeries commonly contain anhinga's, cormorants, and brown pelicans
1930s: "super colonies" in Everglades National Park and Rookery Branch in Shark River is currently
abandoned. The birds have moved north to water conservation areas where new rookeries were initially
unstable
Corkscrew Swamp: most famous existing rookery in South Florida
https://www.etsy.com/listing/72054495/wading-birds-field-guide-art-print

Wading Birds List:

• Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Limpkin
• Snowy Egret
• Glossy Ibis
• Snail Kite
• Wood Stork
• Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow
Yellow-Crowned
Night Heron
• Habitat: Breed in barrier islands, coastal lowlands,
inland lowlands, forests with open
understories, mangroves, and edges of lagoons.

• Feeding: primarily on freshwater and saltwater

crustaceans like marsh crabs, fiddler crabs, and
other mollusks due to bill adaptation for feeding
hard-shelled crustaceans

• Behavior:walk slowly, using a bent-over

posture when foraging, and fly with slow
wingbeats. 

• Conservation: Not threatened due to wide

distribution range and large population size.
Population trends are hard to assess because they
nesting birds can be hard to see during large
standardized surveys.

https://ebird.org/species/ycnher
 Roseate Spoonbill
• Habitat: Forage in the shallows of fresh, brackish, and
marine waters with good sources of aquatic invertebrates.
• Feeding: They sweep their partly opened bill side to side in
the water, feeling and looking for crustaceans such as
shrimp, prawns, aquatic insects, and fish.
• Behavior: They are social birds that gather in small to large
(anywhere from 2 to around 400) groups when feeding and
roosting.
• Conservation: protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty
Act and as a State-designated Threatened species.
Population numbers are relatively stable.

https://cannons.com/2013/07/18/floridas-pink-bird-is-not-a-flamingo-meet-the-roseate-
spoonbill/
Limpkin
• Habitat: Shallow freshwater swamp forests,
ponds, lakes, sloughs, canals, and marshes. Slow-
moving creeks and rivers are present.

• Feeding: Almost exclusively eat apple snails but

also eat other native freshwater snails and
freshwater mussels. Also eat small amounts of
seeds and insects, lizards, frogs, insects, crayfish,
grasshoppers, worms, and aquatic midges.

• Behavior: They are excellent tree climbers and

balance on floating vegetation. This is from their
long toes which provide support and distribute
their weight.

• Conservation: been hunted almost to extinction in

Florida by beginning of 20th century. Least
Concern Status as of January 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limpkin
 Snowy Egret
• Habitat: Nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places;
such as barrier islands, dredge-spoil islands, salt marsh islands,
swamps, and marshes.
• Feeding: Eats mostly aquatic animals, including fish, frogs,
worms, crustaceans, and insects.
• Behavior: Male Snowy Egrets fight for breeding territories,
choose nest sites, and perform noisy courtship displays to
attract mates. Other egrets will form a ring around a displaying
male as he pumps his body up and down, points his bill
skyward, and calls.
• Conservation: Least concern Status. Population numbers are
increasing. The North American Waterbird Conservation Plan
estimates a continental population of over 143,000 birds. 

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/66343741
Glossy Ibis
• Habitat: Forage in relatively open freshwater
marshes but also frequent brackish and saltwater
marshes, mudflats, mangrove swamps, wet
agricultural fields, lake or pond edges, sewage
treatment areas, and shallow rivers.
• Feeding: Wdie variety diet of leeches, earthworms,
marine worms, dragonflies, crickets, grasshoppers,
many species of beetles, soldier flies, crabs,
shrimp, crayfish, mollusks, snails, fish, frogs,
toads, newts, salamanders, snakes, and lizards.
• Behavior: They are very social throughout their
lives, feeding and resting in flocks and nesting in
tight colonies where nests are usually no more than
2 feet apart
• Conservation: Glossy Ibises are found throughout
the world. In North America, populations increased
by an estimated 4.2% per year between 1966 and
2015.

https://ebird.org/species/gloibi
 Snail Kite
• Habitat: Found in freshwater marshes, lakes,
retention ponds, sloughs, wet prairies, borrow pits,
and canals.

• Feeding: Feed almost only on freshwater apple

snails. This includes both the native Florida apple
snail and non-native snails recently introduced to
Florida, such as the island apple snail and spike-
topped apple snail.

• Behavior: During nesting season, they perform

undulating “roller coaster” flights and exaggeratedly
slow “butterfly” flights near prospective mates, often
while carrying a stick in the bill and calling. Females
sometimes join males in the sky, occasionally locking
talons and tumbling downward

• Conservation: The U.S. population of Snail Kites is

estimated at 1,000 birds and is listed as endangered
both federally and in Florida.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snail_Kite/id
Wood Stork
• Habitat: Breed in fresh and brackish forested wetlands. Forage in
wetlands, swamps, ponds, and marshes with water depths of around 4–
12 inches.

• Feeding: Primarily eat fish and other aquatic invertebrates, but

sometimes eat seeds, amphibians, and reptiles. Walk slowly through
wetlands with their bill in the water, feeling for prey. When they feel
something on their bill, they quickly snap it closed, swallowing the prey
whole.

• Behavior: They are social birds that forage in groups and nest in
colonies. They gather in small groups and forage in wetlands, frequently
following each other one by one in a line. Fly long distances to
rookeries

• Conservation: Their populations remained stable from 1966 to 2015. It

is estimated that the global breeding population is 450,000. Status went
from endangered to threatened.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Stork/id
 Cape Sable Seaside
Sparrow
• Habitat: The Seaside Sparrow lives in salt
marshes, especially spartina grass, rushes,
and tidal reeds. 
• Feeding: They eat seeds, insects,
spiders, and marine invertebrates.
• Behavior: The Seaside Sparrow walks on
the ground and extracts prey from
surrounding vegetation with their bill in
the mud.
• Conservation: The Seaside Sparrow
is common overall; most populations were
stable between 1966 and 2014.

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/seaspa/cur/introduction
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/732749801849948928/
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/05/salt-marshes-help-protect-shorelines/

Waterfowl List:
• Wood Duck
• Mottled Duck
• Black-bellied Whistling Duck
• Blue-winged Teal
Wood Duck
• Habitat: Reside in bottom and forests, swamps,
freshwater marshes, and beaver ponds. Very common
along streams like creeks and rivers.

• Feeding: Eat seeds, fruits, insects and other

invertebrates. When aquatic foods are not available,
they will take to dry land to eat acorns and other nuts
from forests and grain from fields.

• Behavior: A strong flier that can reach speeds of 30

mph. Not territorial except with the exception that a
male may fight off other males that approach his mate
too closely.

• Conservation: The Wood Duck had a dramatic

decline in population in the 19th century. However,
their populations have increased between 1966 and
2015. 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/id
 Mottled Duck
• Habitat: Use fresh and brackish wetlands for resting,
feeding, and nesting. Reside in areas with low water
levels like an abundance of emergent vegetation,
including grasses, bulrush, rice cutgrass, and
bulltongue.

• Feeding: Diet ranges from the seeds and shoots of

many grasses, wild millet, smartweed, spikerush,
paspalum, sea purslane, wigeon grass, bulrush, and
cultivated rice.

• Behavior: When nesting season occurs the Mottled

Duck collect in groups and display a range of stylized
movements and sounds involving shaking the head,
raising or dipping the head or tail, preening behind
the wing, as well as a variety of grunts, burping
sounds, and whistles.

• Conservation: Population declined by an estimated

3.1% per year between 1966 and 2015, this resulted
in a cumulative decline of 78% over that period.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mottled_Duck/id
 https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-bellied-whistling-duck

Black-bellied
Whistling Duck
• Habitat: nest in thickets or stands of mesquite,
hackberry, willow, live oak, and other trees. Forage in
fields, lawns, and shallow, freshwater ponds that often
contain water hyacinth, water lilies, and cattails.

• Feeding: Diet consists of mainly plants, including

smartweed, grasses, swamp timothy, sedges, bindweed,
and nightshade. They also consume many crops
including millet, corn, rice, and wheat. They will also eat
snails, insects, and spiders.

• Behavior: Have long legs and spend more time than

other ducks walking on land or perching in trees. Form
lifelong pair bonds and breed in their first year of life.
Males will chase or nip at each other or use a threat
display that involves stretching their neck forward and
opening their bill.

• Conservation: Their population has been expanding in

the southern U.S., and they have strong population
growth, estimating about over 6% per year from 1966–
2014.
 Blue-winged Teal
• Habitat: The Blue-winged Teal nest among grasses and
forage during the summer in shallow ponds or pond-
marsh mixes.

• Feeding: Their diet consists of aquatic insects ranging

from midge larvae, crustaceans, clams, and snails and
vegetation and grains. In the winter, they will consume
seeds such as rice, millet, and water lilies.

• Behavior: During nesting season they will use very

exagerrated displays. These displays include pumping
the head up and down, dipping the head under water
rapidly, and tipping up or dabbling in the water with their
body feathers raised. Females may respond to these
displays by lowering their heads, pointing their bills at
the male, and then raising their heads.

• Conservation: They are the second most abundant duck

in North America, behind the Mallard. Their numbers
fluctuate between about 2.8 million and 7.4 million.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-winged_Teal/id
 https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-
science/the-evolving-science-of-waterfowl-conservation

• Waterbirds face a wide range of human influenced threats including draining of

wetlands, contamination of food supplies, mortality from oil spills, introduction of
mammalian predators on nesting islands, and conflicts with aquaculture. 
Conservation Efforts • The Migratory Bird Program is engaged in a variety of activities to ensure
colonial-nesting waterbird populations remain healthy including monitoring of
nesting colonies, conducting or funding research, and restoring nesting habitats.
 Literature Cited:
• Lodge, T.E. (2017). The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem. CRC Press. 

• Main, M. Freshwater Wetlands Ecosystem Module Ecology of Freshwater Wetlands Waterbirds [PowerPoint

Slides]. University of Florida, IFAS Extension. 

• National Audubon Society. (2019). A Guide to North American Birds. Retrieved from: 
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/

• National Park Service. (2019). Everglades National Park: Wading Birds. Retrieved from: 
https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/birds.htm

• National Wildlife Federation. (2019). The Everglades: Wildlife. Retrieved from: 

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Wild-Places/Everglades

• The Cornell Lab. (2019). All About Birds: Life History. Retrieved from: 
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/lifehistory

• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2015). Migratory Bird Program: Waterfowl Conservation. Retrieved from: 
https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/bird-conservation-partnership-and-initiatives/waterfowl-conservation.p
hp