The Swallow-tailed Kite is a hawk that only spends the summer with us, but its arrival from a winter home in the American tropics in late February or early March has long been heralded as a signal of the arrival of spring. It arrives in small numbers with piercing high-pitched notes and aerial acrobatics that captivate those who spot them. Courtship and nest-building quickly get underway. Nests are typically placed high in a tree near wetland areas, but foraging kites can sometimes be seen flying low over city streets. This is a species that suffered greatly from clearing of forests, draining of wetlands, pesticides, and other pollutants. Northern populations long ago disappeared. Florida breeding populations have suffered, but Swallow-tailed Kites still return each year – no doubt influenced by our climate and the vastness of the Everglades ecosystem.

Shorebirds are easy – they are found at the shore. Well, not quite so easy. Some such as Killdeer can be found in your yard. Others can be found in or at the edge of almost any body of water. Gulls, terns, sandpipers, and plovers are the major groups of shorebirds introduced this week. Each of these four represent a different group of birds but the groups often mingle on or near our beaches – and each species has unique physical and behavioral characteristics. Gulls are typically big, with short, stout bills – they are scavengers that often float on the surface or just stand around on land.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are the most commonly seen woodpeckers in Florida in part because they are generalists that forage for insects, spiders, small lizards, and fruit in trees and on the ground in our yards and parks. Unfortunately, they are about the size of European Starlings and Starlings often usurp their cavities.

Seagrape is a small native shrub or tree found naturally in coastal areas of south Florida. It is intolerant of frost and is absent from much of north Florida. The name “seagrape” comes from its dark to purple, grape-like fruit – but it is not a grape. It is a member of the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). The fruit is edible when plucked off the tree (although it has a large seed inside), but it can also be used to make wine, jelly, or in cooking.

The Pied-billed Grebe is an aquatic bird that consumes small fish and other small animals that it captures while swimming and diving after them in relatively shallow water. It is well adapted for its aquatic existence with strong webbed feet located far back on its body and dense, water-resistant insulating down. Pairs and young often forage together, but adults do not usually assemble in flocks.

The Queensland Umbrella Tree is native to Australia, but was introduced to North America at least by early in the 20th century. It quickly became popular as a landscape plant in Florida and other sub-tropical states and was also cultivated as a houseplant that became (and still is) popular in more northern areas. Unfortunately – as with many other exotics, it took decades for us to realize negative aspects of the plant on our environment.Queensland Umbrella Trees have very shallow roots that can break up sidewalks, driveways, and building foundations.

As their names imply, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are creatures of the darkness – but they can often be seen hunting for food during the day in early spring as they begin to nest and later in summer as their young leave the nest to strike out on their own. These species are similar in size and shape: short, stocky birds with a pointed bill, short neck and legs, and extra-large red eyes. Black-crowned Night-Herons do indeed have a black crown – as adults. And Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a white to yellow (or dirty white) crown. The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a generalist -- it eats whatever fish or other small animal it can capture. It is also fairly cosmopolitan, found in wetland areas on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is more selective in its food, much preferring crabs and crayfish. It is primarily a bird of coastal areas and dense vegetation of wooded wetlands. Local places where both might be seen are Six-mile Cypress Slough and Corkscrew Sanctuary.

River Otters are social animals that seem to enjoy life – as evidenced by three recently independent young otters that I observed for several days in June 2021. They traveled, hunted, and seemed to “play” together. They created (and used repeatedly) an “otter slide“ by removing vegetation from the steep slope of a canal bank. They then repeatedly slid down into the water. Repeated slides with wet fur quickly made the slide slick with mud. Their antics seemed carefree and playful, reminding us of young children. Indeed, otters have inspired children’s books with their behavior. The truth is they are members of the weasel family, are consummate predators, and much of their behavior and anatomy are clearly linked to their life style and needs. Young learn from their parents and from one another. They are hunters that often travel several miles in a day. They have jaws strong enough to crush a clam or a turtle – and all that “play” may just be honing their skills for survival.

Coontie is usually a 3-foot tall shrub that looks somewhat like a miniature palm. But it’s not a palm – it’s a cycad – distantly- but most-closely related to the exotic gingko tree of China. It is also distantly related to pines. Coontie is a plant that almost disappeared by the late 1800s as a result of habitat destruction and losses due to its use in producing a starchy product called “Florida Arrowroot”. As Coontie disappeared, so too did the tiny black, orange, and blue Atala Butterfly and its orange-red caterpillar with two rows of yellow spots along its back and scattered short black hairs covering its body. Atala Butterfly caterpillars adapted to feed on the stiff Coontie leaves and store the toxins from the plant in its body.

The American Bittern is known to science as Botaurus lentiginosus – a name that tells us a bit about it. Botaurus is derived from an old English word that refers to a bull – because this bird’s unique deep-throated call reminded people of the bellowing of a bull. The species name “lentiginosus” means freckled – a reference to the tiny black spots on this bittern’s back.