The birds of Key West and the Florida Keys are among the most beautiful, strange and fascinating birds in all of North America. Like the people, they love warm weather and a lot of them come for the seafood. Here are a few of them:
Double-Crested Cormorant
This is the most common type of cormorant and one of the few cormorants that’s found around Key West. Its crest is hard to see unlike it’s orange throat pouch. It has webbed feet, a short tail and short wings. When it swims, it tilts its bill upwards. Though mature birds are dark all over, immature Double-Crested Cormorants have white breasts and dark bellies.
Anhinga
A visitor might see this bird drying its wings in the branches of trees. Though it makes its living spearing fish from the water, its feathers, unlike ducks', aren’t waterproof. When it’s in the water it will swim with only its head and neck above the surface. Its long wings, tail and the plumes along its back differentiate it from the cormorant.
Gannet
This funny looking creature spends its winters over the ocean but breeds in the Keys. It has a white body with dark wing tips and an orange head. It’s famous for diving straight into the water to go after fish and will swim underwater for a while before it catches one.
Magnificent Frigatebird
This bird is also a visitor the Keys during the summers. When it flies, it presents narrow wings with a pronounced crook in them. But the Frigatebird is famous for the throat sack of the male, which is vivid red and inflated during the mating season. An agile flier that can soar to great heights without flapping its wings, the Magnificent Frigatebird also robs gulls and terns in mid-flight. Though it will take small fish and other sea life, it won’t land on the water.
Pelicans
Both the Brown and White Pelican can be found in Key West. The adult Brown Pelican has a light head and gray-brown feathers on the body while the immature pelican is dull above and light below. A strong flier, it flies with its head tucked back into its shoulders. It can glide just above the water but can dive from as high as 30 feet to hunt for fish. Some birds have gotten used to being fed at the docks and will beg for food. Flocks fly in long lines.
The White Pelican is more widespread than the Brown and can even be found well inland. It's completely white as an adult though the primary and secondary wing feathers are black. During the breeding season, the bird has a flat, round growth on its bill. Like the Brown Pelican, it migrates in straight lines but in a V-formation and can soar to great heights. It fishes by wading in shallow water and scooping up the fish with its bill. Unlike the Brown, the White Pelican doesn’t dive.
Common Loon
The Common Loon is known for its eerie, laughing call and its expertise in swimming and diving for food. Summer plumage includes a beautifully speckled and striped back. The Common Loon eats fish, crustaceans and water plants. Small flocks of loons can be found in the Florida Keys.
American Flamingo
Rare but quite a sight when its seen in Key West, this bird can be found on mud flats. Some people speculate that any flamingos seen in Florida are descended from those escaped from zoos. It’s unmistakable with its extremely long neck and stilt like legs and heavy, hooked bill from which is strains food. The pink color of its feathers is caused by the carotene in the crustaceans that it eats.
Ibis
The adult form of the White Ibis is white all over, with black wing tips, a red face and curved red bill. Like pelicans, they fly in long lines or in V formation. The Wood Ibis can be found in swamps, marshes and ponds around the keys. The bill is long and dark and the adult’s head is naked and dark. It flies with its head and long neck extended and is good at soaring on slow, strong wingbeats. It eats fish, amphibians and reptiles and nests in colonies in trees.
The Glossy Ibis is less common than the Wood or White Ibis and has a bronze body. It has a long, thin, curved bill.
Roseate Spoonbill
This bird, with its long, oddly shaped bill, is unmistakable. Its found in shallow water and the adult has a rosy pink body and legs. It feeds on marine life and is usually silent. The immature roseate spoonbill is white with hints of pink.
Herons
Among the herons that live or breed around Key West is the Great Blue Heron. This is the largest of the herons and lives around fresh as well as salt water. It has a mostly white head and dark underparts. When it hunts, it stalks through shallow water or stands there with its head hunched down into its shoulders.
The Little Blue Heron, like the Great Blue Heron, can be found in both fresh and salt water. It has a dark blue back and underparts and a brown head and neck. The bill is blue with a black tip and its legs are blue green. When it's immature, the Little Blue Heron is mostly white and resembles a Snowy Egret.
The Green Heron is a small bird that can be found in ponds and along streams. It’s actually more blue than green though it has a dark belly and bright orange legs. It flies quickly and has a shorter neck than the other herons.
The Great White Heron is the largest North American heron and is abundant in the Keys and Key West. It has a yellow bill and legs and feeds on aquatic animals in shallow water.
Egrets
The Common, Snowy and Cattle Egret can also be found in the Keys. The Common Egret populates streams, rice fields, ponds and fresh water marshes and mudflats. The plumage is white and its bill is yellow, but unlike the Great White Heron its legs and feet are black. The Snowy Egret has a black bill with a patch of yellow skin at the base. Its legs are black and its feet bright yellow.
The Cattle Egret lives in flocks where it follows cattle and feeds on the insects they disturb as they move around. It has a yellow or orange bill that’s shorter and thicker than the other egrets and herons. It also has an orange breast, crest and shoulders during the breeding season.