Boat-tailed Grackles at Sweetwater Wetlands Park: 10-29-17, Gainesville, FL

Male Boat-tailed Grackles

Boat-tailed Grackles from different regions (East Coast, Florida, west of FL to Louisiana, and west of Louisiana) have different eye colors.   The reason is unknown.

The sheen of the feathers on the males is quite stunning.

Fledglings that happen to fall into the water can swim quite well for short distances, using their wings as paddles.

These birds have an unusual mating system.  Females locate their nests in a cluster or colony.  Males then compete for the right to defend and mate with all the females (known as harem defense polygyny)

Deck Shots

Black-and-white Warbler

Gleaning insects from the oak branches

In fact, their genus name (Mniotita), means “moss-plucking,” a reference to their habit of probing bark and moss for insects.

And they’re the only member of this genus.

Big Bird

Not much freeboard!

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Preening

White Pelicans off our seawall

American White Pelicans, winter visitors

They are very large birds, almost twice the size of the Brown Pelicans.

They can weigh as much as 30 pounds with a wingspan exceeding 9 feet.

They feed by scooping fish into their pouch while swimming along the surface.

(Brown Pelicans dive for their food)

Sandhill Cranes at Sweetwater Wetlands Park, Gainesville, FL: 10-29-17

Sandhill Cranes

These cranes are noted for their elaborate courtship displays.

Two displays are used to form mating pairs while three other displays occur only between mates and serve to maintain the pair bond.

Preening keeps this all-important feathers in good working order for protection, flight, temperature control, etc.

The nictitating membrane makes the eyes appear to be closed or diseased or damaged.

This nictitating membrane is a third eyelid that is translucent or clear.  It is used by the birds as an extra level of safety for the eye and allows them to still see while affording its eyes an additional amount of protection.

Some birds, reptiles and sharks have these membranes as well as a few mammals.

This crane was reacting to a Red-tailed Hawk that flew over

“When we hear his call we here no mere bird.  We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution ... their annual return is the ticking of geological clock.”  Aldo Leopold

Beneath the sternum of the Sandhill Crane is an extra-long looped trachea that gives the bird the ability to emit a unique cry that is audible up to a mile away.

Thankfully we have a Florida subspecies that does not migrate so we get to enjoy them year-round.