A bird of prey, similar to the families of hawks, eagles and vultures this bird falls into the “raptors” category. But according to Wikipedia this classification is being investigated. These birds like the warm tropical climates (notice a pattern?). They like to snack on apple snails. Anyone know what an apple snail is? Just kidding, this is what an apple snail looks like when it is being eaten by a Snail Kite
florida Archive
The Crested Caracara is a large, ground-dwelling falcon. To me, it looks similar to many falcons but it is more colorful perhaps. Albeit, I have little experience with falcons. Interesting Facts about the Crested Caracara (Source: Whatbird.com): * A common subject of folklore and legends throughout Central and South America, the Crested Caracara is sometimes referred to as the “Mexican eagle.†* Although it looks like a long-legged hawk and associates with vultures, it is actually in the same family as falcons. * A group of falcons has many collective nouns, including a “bazaar”, “eyrie”, “ringing up”, “stooping up”, and “tower” of falcons. (And yes, this too I found in Luke Dempsey’s book, “A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birder’s and Their Quest To See
This interesting bird eats mostly insects but also likes berries and seeds. Aside from the insects I could go for their diet. That is about what I like nowadays! =) Fun stuff. They are approximately 7.6 – 8.8 inches (19-22cm) as fully grown birds. They prefer a tropical climate and only accidentally show up in Florida. This classifies them as a “vagrant bird” (a term birders use to refer to birds that come accidentally or by chance to a location rather than normal migration patterns). I found this bird from Luke Dempsey’s book, “A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birder’s and Their Quest To See It All.&#
I read about this bird in Luke Dempsey’s book, “A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birder’s and Their Quest To See It All.” I did not have a clue what they were, so I looked them up and found they were very pretty birds. I decided they could be the bird of the day. =) YAY! According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology the Anhinga is known both as the the turkey of the water (because of its broad tail and swimming abilities) and the snake-bird “for its habit of swimming with just its long head and neck sticking out of the water.” * Size: 75-95 cm (30-37 in) * Wingspan: 109 cm (43 in) * Weight: 1325-1350 g (46.77-47.66 ounces) “The Anhinga is frequently seen