The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 2590% of Florida's mangrove forests are found in Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties. Dozensof tiny mangrove islands occur in the Ten Thousand Islands region southeast of Naples, and in FloridaBay between the southern mainland and the Mainline Florida Keys. Destruction of mangrove forests isnow largely illegal due to wetlands protection laws. Characteristic breeding birds include the BrownPelican, Magnificent Frigatebird (Dry Tortugas National Park only), wading birds, Clapper Rail, WhitecrownedPigeon, Mangrove Cuckoo, Gray Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo, “Cuban” Yellow Warbler,and “Florida” Prairie Warbler.Freshwater Marshes are abundant throughout the Peninsula and locally in the Panhandle. There areseveral different varieties of freshwater marsh, depending primarily on the water depth and duration offlooding. Wetlands in Florida typically contain multiple varieties of marsh; three types are describedhere. Flag Marshes are dominated by tall forbs such as ♦pickerelweed (Pontedaria cordata),♦arrowheads (Sagittaria spp.), and other species. Cattail Marshes contain ♦cattails (Typha spp.) oftenin extremely dense monotypic stands. Sawgrass Marshes are typical of the Everglades and aredominated by ♦Jamaican swamp sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense), which despite its name, is a sedge, nota grass. (The Everglades therefore is a “River of Sedge” rather than a “River of Grass”). The Upper St.Johns River marshes and Everglades National Park are two examples of extensive marsh systems inFlorida. Characteristic breeding birds depend upon the type of marsh and may include the following: thePied-billed Grebe, Least Bittern, Mottled Duck, Snail Kite, King Rail, Common Moorhen, PurpleGallinule, Sandhill Crane, Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, and Boat-tailed Grackle. The“Cape Sable” Seaside Sparrow has occupied at least four types of freshwater and brackish marshes in theextreme southwestern Peninsula—it is unique among Seaside Sparrows in that it breeds in freshwatermarshes.Tidal Marshes also are composed of several different types, depending upon their proximity to salt waterand degree of soil salinity. They are found along coastlines with little wave action, along shores of riversoften many miles (km) upstream, and in protected coves on barrier islands. They are most extensivealong the Gulf coast from Wakulla County south to Pasco County, where they occur nearly unbroken fornearly 200 miles (315 km). The two primary types of salt marshes are composed of often monotypicstands of ♦needle rush (Juncus roemerianus) and ♦smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); severalother species are present in “high marsh” far from salt water. Extensive areas of tidal marsh are foundwithin the Big Bend Ecosystem and Crystal River Marshes IBAs. Breeding bird diversity of tidalmarshes is limited to a few species, primarily the Black Rail, Clapper Rail, Willet, Marsh Wren,Common Yellowthroat, Seaside Sparrow (excluding the Cape Sable subspecies), and Red-wingedBlackbird.Lacustrine habitats (i.e., lakes and ponds) are abundant in the Peninsula but rare in the Panhandle. Noother southern state contains a lake district like that of Florida, and in fact, no state closer than thoseadjacent to Canada contain a comparable number of lakes. There are over 7800 lakes in Florida greaterthan 1 acre (0.4 ha) in size. Most of these are small, but five lakes exceed 39 square miles (100 squarekm). Lake Okeechobee, the second-largest fresh water lake wholly within the Lower 48 States, is largest,followed by lakes George, Kissimmee, Apopka, and Istokpoga. Most lakes occur along the ridge systemsthat run through the center of much of the Peninsula; appropriately named Lake County contains 1345lakes and ponds. Most lakes are (or at least historically were) rimmed by extensive forests of bays,cypresses, and other hardwoods, while many ponds are surrounded by willows and other shrubs.Characteristic breeding birds include the Pied-billed Grebe, Mottled Duck, Snail Kite, King Rail,Common Moorhen, Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, and Boat-tailed Grackle. The sixlargest lakes in Florida are IBAs.