South Florida's Birds
Photo courtesy of Brian Rapoza
South Florida Specialties
Many birds with a primarily neotropical distribution are found in Florida. Information concerning many of these birds can be found on our South Florida Specialties page. Some of these primarily neotropical birds, such as Anhinga, are so common that we don't list information on the specialties page.
Regular Rarities
Many rare bird species show up repeatedly in south Florida, often from the West Indies. There are no places to go to see these. If any have been sighted lately, they will be mentioned on the TAS Bird Board or Rare Bird Update, linked below. Some of the interesting rarities seen in south Florida since 2000 include: Masked Duck, Least Grebe, Fea's Petrel, White-tailed Tropicbird, Red-billed Tropicbird, Red-footed Booby, Pacific Golden-Plover, Red-necked Stint, Black Noddy, Zenaida Dove, White-tipped Dove, Key West Quail-Dove, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Cuban Pewee, La Sagra's Flycatcher, Variegated Flycatcher, Loggerhead Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Cuban Vireo, Thick-billed Vireo, Yellow-green Vireo, Bahama Swallow, Bahama Mockingbird, Western Spindalis, Bananaquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit and Black-faced Grassquit. Additionally, we have been visited by White-cheeked Pintail, Cuban Grassquit, Cuban Bullfinch and Red-legged Honeycreepers of uncertain origin.
TAS Bird BoardS FL Rare Bird Update
Winter Birds
In the winter, we get 20-25 species of wintering warbler and are often visited by a number of western species. Regular winter visitors from the west include Lesser Nighthawk, Swainson's Hawk, Rufous Hummingbird, Vermilion Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Western Tanager. Other western birds visit more rarely.