![]() “Sometimes, in dry years, the birds don’t nest as much,” Beck said. More: Anglers protest FWC herbicide spraying on Florida lakes The 2016 nesting season was a record year for snail kites, Beck said, with 852 nests counted statewide.īut none were found on Lake Okeechobee in the past two years, he said, although there have been years with as many as 120 nests on Florida’s largest lake. In 2019, snail kite cooperators reported a total of 278 nests statewide. ![]() The 2019 nesting season "wasn’t great, but 2018 was very good," Beck said. The overall Florida population of snail kites is “in good shape and upward trending,” said Tyler Beck, Everglade snail kite conservation coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. However, some are concerned the state’s program to kill aquatic plants with herbicides may unintentionally affect both the bird and its highly specific food supply. The good news is the bird’s population and nesting numbers are heading in the right direction. The snail kite, designated as endangered by federal and state authorities since 1967, has weathered habitat loss caused by development and wetland manipulation by flood control managers. It’s a scene playing out with more and more frequency in recent years over Central and South Florida’s wetlands and lakes. Meal secured, the crow-sized raptor with the sharply downward-curved beak makes its way to a perch nearby to enjoy some fresh-caught escargot. ![]() An Everglade snail kite hovers over the water’s edge along a grass island, swoops down and with its talons grasps an apple snail about the size of a golf ball.
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