Knowledge Hub

The Florida scrub-jay is the only bird endemic (found only) to Florida. They are found on some of Florida’s highest and driest parts, ancient sandy ridges running down the middle of the state, old sand dunes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and sandy deposits along interior rivers.

Green-tailed towhee pairs may attempt to renest four times or more during the breeding season if a nest fails. They will initiate a nest as late as mid-July, even though many leave the breeding grounds for their winter range by mid-August.

Virginia’s warblers in Arizona nest in drainage bottoms in unusually dry years, instead of their usual nesting sites in drier, higher elevation areas. Nest predation and nest mortality are greater for birds nesting in the drainage bottoms. This could negatively impact populations if climate change leads to increasing drought conditions and more Virginia’s warblers nesting in wetter areas.

Although capable of killing large prey, golden eagles primarily hunt rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs. It takes a juvenile bird four years to reach adulthood, juveniles typically don’t have territories and don’t migrate far from their natal territories (where they hatched). They disperse and ”hang around” the region for several years.

Pintails are a fast, long-distant migrant. Using satellite-tracking technology, the longest non-stop flight on record was 1,800 mi/2,900 km.

Although western bluebirds form a monogamous pair during the breeding season, many bluebird nests contain young that the resident male did not father. A pair of western bluebirds may also have helpers at the nest, who are thought to be assisting their supposed parents after their nests have failed.

Male common nighthawks are known for their dramatic “booming” flight display. When flying above the trees, a male will dive towards the ground and abruptly pull out of the dive, sometimes just above the ground. As he flexes his wings downward, the air rushes across his wingtips, making a booming or whooshing sound. The male may dive to impress a female or scare intruders, such as people.

Kestrels hide surplus prey in grass clumps, tree roots, bushes, fence posts, tree limbs, and cavities, to save the food for lean times or to hide it from thieves. In winter in many southern parts of the range, female and males use different habitats. Females use the typical open habitat, and males use areas with more trees. This situation appears to be the result of the females migrating south first and establishing winter territories, leaving males to the more wooded areas.

Dickcissels gather in large flocks for fall and spring migration, up to thousands of birds. On their winter range, flocks may be as large as millions of birds, and these flocks can inflict substantial damage on agricultural crops in South America.

A highly gregarious species, the Swainson’s hawk forages and migrates in flocks sometimes numbering in the thousands. Its movement through Central America has been described as among “the most impressive avian gatherings in North America, since the demise of the Passenger Pigeon”. Nearly 350,000 Swainson’s hawks have been counted passing over a single point in Panama City in October and November, and up to 845,000 have been counted in a single autumn in Veracruz, Mexico.