Florida Is For The Birds!

Among all the many and varied attractions of Florida, birdwatching may not figure very high on your list of priorities, but we’re here to tell you it’s worth your time.

Just to start with, the Sunshine State is one of the world’s most prominent areas for migrating birds, which stands to reason. If we think it’s a great place to spend the winter, it makes sense that our feathered friends would think the same!

But that’s only the start of why this is ideal birding territory, and you don’t need to be an avid “twitcher” to take advantage of this proliferation of winged wildlife.

We have already touched on this subject in last year’s blog about Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge over on the Atlantic Coast near the Kennedy Space Center. Merritt Island is one of the top five bird-watching sites in the state, and a wonderful way to experience natural Florida.

It also highlights one of the keys to the birding scene – the Great Florida Birding Trail. This network of more than 500 wildlife viewing sites across the state is the perfect starting point for both amateur and professional birders alike.

It explains the basics of what you need to do to get the most out of this branch of the many wildlife-viewing opportunities in Florida and, offers a handy Trip Planner as well as useful printed and e-guides about the vast array of birdlife on offer.

But it’s not just the sheer number of birds you are likely to see, albeit that is impressive enough, especially during the migration seasons in the spring and autumn.

The actual variety of Florida’s avian population is quite stunning, too, with fully 539 species officially listed on the state’s wildlife portal.

There are ducks, geese and other waterfowl; pheasants, grouse and allies; sandpipers, skuas and jaegers; gulls, terns and skimmers; 14 types of hummingbirds; herons, egrets and bitterns; and a magnificent array of hawks, eagles and kites, including plentiful ospreys and bald eagles.

And that barely scratches the surface of the magnificent diversity of birdlife you’ll encounter during your Orlando holiday. Even better, you won’t need to look far to experience a healthy slice of it.

If you spend any time at all in your villa’s back garden (the “back yard” to Americans), you’ll quickly pick up on the variety involved. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see and hear each of the following in the average garden:

Bright red cardinals; blue jays; woodpeckers; egrets; herons; red-winged blackbirds; mockingbirds; the American robin (much bigger than the British version and with reddy-brown plumage); the American goldfinch; vultures; wild turkeys; and the brown-headed cowbird.

You can’t fail to see one of the most common larger birds, the anhinga (a type of cormorant), which hangs around most bodies of water looking for food. It’s also known locally as the “snake bird” for its snake-like profile when in the water.

You are also likely to come across the largest species, the fabulous sandhill crane, which is among the most compelling of any bird in Florida for its fearlessness of humans and its crazy “dancing” antics. They are almost always in mated pairs, or pairs with youngsters in tow, and they also make the most startling prehistoric noise when calling to each other (it sounds exactly what we think a velociraptor might sound like!).

And that’s all without having to make the slightest effort to go anywhere in particular. Orlando is just full of birds.

But if, like us, you get a taste for extending your bird-watching interests, there are also plenty of places you can go that will happily feed this new “habit.”

We’ve already mentioned Merritt Island, but the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is another treasure trove of excellent birdlife. On a recent visit we saw a Great Egret battling with a snake, along with a gaggle of ospreys and herons (PS: the egret won!).

By a similar token, the Orlando Wetlands Park (roughly 40 minutes east of Orlando, just north of the cute little town of Christmas on Highway 50), with its recently-opened Cypress Boardwalk, is ideal for gentle hiking and birdlife watching, as it attracts great numbers of ibis, ducks, wild turkeys, hawks, ospreys and kingfishers, among many others.

There are also volunteer-led small-scale tram tours Fri-Sun from 9am-3pm (Sundays from Sept-May only), which provide great insight into this man-made gem.

And then there’s Bok Tower Gardens, the lovely carillon tower, gardens and mansion in Polk County (barely 30 minutes from our villas at picturesque Ridgewood Lakes), where you’ll often find around 100 species of birds, including the eastern screech owl and snowy egret.

Another handy Great Florida Birding Trail location is Tibet-Butler Preserve on Highway 535 (Winter Garden-Vineland Road) just east of Disney. This free-to-enter little nature reserve has a beautiful lake frontage that is usually home to a mix of anhinga’s, egrets, great blue herons and wood storks, as well as more uncommon species such as the yellow-billed cuckoo, swallow-tailed kites and painted bunting.

And, if nothing else, you’ll usually get a close-up eyeful of nesting birds at Gatorland, as well as the resident alligators, because egrets in particular like to make their nests above the gator swamp in the spring as it keeps away egg-eating critters like raccoons!

It’s just one more reason Orlando is such a totally compelling destination, over and above all the obvious attractions. And, even if you don’t know a heron from a finch, you’ll have a great time enjoying the wide-open Florida nature!

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