With the Wild Things

The American White Pelican may be a bird you know as simply “White Pelican”.There’s a reason for adding “American”.There are other white pelican species found around the world. Ours is unique from them in other ways. During the nesting season an American White Pelican sometimes has a flat structure that grows upwards from the middle of its upper bill. It is often called a “horn”, but it is flat – and not a horn. It seems likely that it is an adornment that is “attractive” to the opposite sex, but no one seems to have confirmed that.American White Pelicans also have other features that you likely won’t see while they are wintering here.They have eyelids that are bright red and a get a few light yellow plumes on the back of the head. At the beginning of the breeding season – before they head north – you may get to see their facial skin and legs become bright orange.

Most of our troubled species are endangered as a result of loss or degradation of habitat, loss of adequate food resources, introduction of exotic species, or isolation of small populations – all of which are influenced by our actions. In many ways we have upset the balance of nature. We can’t stop development, but need to understand how species of plants and animals will be impacted by it and how we might alter construction and location to benefit natural communities.

The Great Egret is, indeed, great!It is great in size, second only to the Great Blue Heron among herons and egrets in Florida – standing on its long legs an adult is nearly three feet tall – and that’s without having its neck stretched upwards. The Great Egret’s solid white feathers often seem unbelievable when this bird is seen wading in muddy water. In between meals and while it is waiting for food to come by, it reaches beneath the feathers of its breast and side to take a bill-full of powderdowns – special feathers that crumble when rubbed against the much sturdier feathers that cover the powderdowns. In a sense applying crushed powder downs is very much like a human applying make-up.

Orb-weaving spiders are those that spin webs to capture insects that they eat. We have many species of orb-weavers in Florida and fall is the best time of year to see them. These spiders begin life as tiny creatures in early spring and by fall they have matured to adult size, are much more conspicuous, and are ready to mate. All orb-weavers produce a venom to kill their prey, but the venom is -- at worst -- like a bee-sting for humans.

Most of us – by the time we reach high school – have learned about the monarch butterfly tasting bad to predators because it eats milkweed. We might also have learned about its similar-looking relatives that also eat milkweed:the darker-colored Queen Butterfly and the Soldier Butterfly and a much more distant relative that eats willow leaves -- the Viceroy Butterfly.

The Green Heron is hardly green at all, but has a green tint reflected from the black as a result of its feather structure. This diminutive heron is with us year round and can often be seen at water’s edge, standing on floating debris, or on a low limb. While its legs are short, its neck is relatively long. It can be extended instantaneously to seize a small fish or other creature or to gain a better view of its surroundings or potential prey.

The Black Skimmer is a very unusual shorebird – in part because of its exceptionally long, knife-like lower bill and much shorter, slightly-curved upper bill. The knife-like lower bill is for slicing through calm surface waters near shore and in shallow ponds and lakes to capture fishes. When the lower bill strikes a small fish, the fish slides up the bill and the upper bill clamps down on it.

Cabbage Palms are Florida’s State “Tree”. I put “tree” in quotes here because technically they are different from trees. We all know Cabbage Palms and recognize how the fronds arch upward and outward when alive and how a dead frond snaps off in the wind leaving the dead frond base attached to the palm. What you may not know is that the top of a palm frond stem is concave. When it rains, water flows down the trough of the stem into the base providing water that is absorbed by the palm and also helps cool it in the summer sun.

River Otters are carnivorous mammals – distantly related to dogs and cats, members of the weasel family, and close relatives of Sea Otters. An adult otter can be nearly four-feet long and – it has a bite that can crush a turtle, a clamshell, or your hand. An otter’s jaw is built for crushing – not for grinding.

The Florida Softshell Turtle is one of three softshell species common to Florida – but it is found over most of the state and is especially common in south Florida. The other two species are found in parts of north Florida and northward. It’s easy to identify the Florida Softshell because it has a noticeable ridge of scales across the front part of its otherwise leathery “shell” – which is properly known as its “carapace”. All of these softshell turtles are flattened – aiding in their rapid movements to capture small fish, crayfish and other small animals. Plants do appear in their diet, but at a low level – and perhaps they just came along with an animal they were eating.