The Brown Pelican is among Florida’s largest resident birds and is intimately associated with coastal waters where it regularly dives for fish from heights of up to about 60 feet. A Brown Pelican obviously has good vision and -- in spite of a sometimes awkward looking appearance – success in its dives for food. It doesn’t dive deep, but flies well above the water and then dives headfirst with its neck extended and wings held up and back to capture fish spotted near the surface. Once in the water with its bill open, its throat “net” expands as a result of its movements and associated water pressure, bending bones of the lower jaw to open its net and capture the targeted fish. When it stops forward motion, jaw bones return to their relaxed position and the upper bill “becomes a lid”, trapping the fish. Without the pressure created by the dive, water flows out between the upper and lower bill and the pelican swallows its catch. The big, clumsy-looking Brown Pelican is well equipped with tools of its trade.

As Floridians we have a lot of “snowbirds” – and I’m not referring to humans who seasonally come south to enjoy our sunshine. I’m referring to birds that nest to the north and spend the winter with us – such as the American Goldfinch – a bird whose name comes from its favored food and the brilliant yellow and black of a male goldfinch in its breeding finery. Iowans may think of this goldfinch as “their” bird -- they adopted it as Iowa’s state bird because it is ubiquitous in fields and roadsides with tall grasses and thistles, and scattered small trees -- and in backyards where bird-feeders are maintained. It is also known as the “thistle finch” because of its preference for eating the small seeds of thistles. But these birds often spend more time in Florida than they do in Iowa. Here they are consummate consumers of thistle seeds sold in many stores as bird food. These seeds are grown commercially in Asia – but present little potential for adding a prickly invasive plant to your yard: the seeds are heated before shipment to make sure they can’t grow into thistle plants.

Poison Ivy is a plant that most of us learned to recognize as kids – often as a result of suffering through the itchy rash it can cause. Leaflets 3, let it be! We less often heard of its close relatives: Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, and the Poisonwood tree. And by the way, we also have an invasive exotic relative of these plants in Florida – The Brazilian Pepper. This invader from South America can also cause a miserably itchy rash.

The Florida Soft-shelled Turtle is found throughout Florida in freshwater in calm or relatively calm ponds, lakes, and canals that have a relatively sandy bottom. Males are much smaller than females. The male’s smaller size allows him to be more maneuverable. The female’s much larger size accommodates the large eggs that she lays. With her strong hind legs she alone digs a nesting hole, lays her eggs in the hole, and fills it in – without ever looking back. A broad band of tubercles, scale-like structures, occurs along the front edge of the Florida Soft-shelled Turtle’s carapace, distinguishing it from other soft-shelled turtles.

The Red-shouldered Hawk is not only one of the easiest to see in Florida, but also one of the easiest to identify. The rusty red shoulders and broad black bands with narrow white bands on the tail allow a certain identification. This is also a bird that usually hunts from a perch – sitting for long periods waiting for a potential meal – and allowing birders to get a good look. In flight the barred tail and light passing through the white areas of the primary feathers also provide for easy identification. This patient sit and wait predator on insects, lizards, snakes, and other small animals is usually found in forested wetland areas is with us year round, and is one of our earliest nesting birds usually with eggs in the nest by the end of January.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron does most of its feeding at night. Its large red eyes may help it see in the dark and – unlike other herons and egrets -- it doesn’t often respond to mosquitos that land on its facial skin. By staying perfectly still, small fishes come closer and are thus easier for it to see and to catch.

A trip to the beach in southwest Florida often takes us past stands of 4-8 foot grass – stems which in late summer and fall are topped by waving heavy clusters of seeds that are a favored food of beach mice, Red-winged Blackbirds, and other wildlife. But the value of sea oats is much greater than its availability as a wildlife food or even as a habitat in which beach mice, Wilson’s Plovers, and Burrowing Owls find nesting sites and shelter. Indeed, the very dunes on which we find sea oats are present because of sea oats.