Birds You'll See on an Everglades Eco Tour
South Florida is known for its incredible biodiversity, and this is especially true regarding Everglades bird species. The famous naturalist John James Audubon, for whom the National Audubon Society is named, was in awe of Florida’s birds, saying how “The air was blackened by whistling wings.” There is a variety of types of birds to be found on an Everglades eco tour, such as wading birds, birds of prey, migrating birds, and land birds.
Everglades Wading Birds
Wading birds are named for how they wade in shallow water to stalk their prey, making the River of Grass an ideal habitat for them. During the Everglades dry season, which lasts from December to late May, they congregate in large groups to mate and nest. Wood storks, egrets, Great Blue Herons, ibises and roseate spoonbills fill both the sky and sawgrass marsh when the water levels are at their lowest.
You may notice another long necked bird with a pointy beak swimming and diving in deeper water before emerging with fish in its mouth, the anhinga. Anhingas, nicknamed “snakebirds” for how they swim with their long, snake-like necks above the water, are actually water birds despite their similarity to wading birds.
Birds of Prey in the Everglades
Anhingas and herons do look cool while they hunt, but can pale in comparison to the swiftness and power of birds of prey that reside in the Everglades. These impressive raptors hatch during the dry season just like wading birds, but they’re off any hunting on their own by four months of age, as is the case of the red-shouldered hawk. Ospreys are another exciting bird of prey to watch, preferring to hunt fish by diving down with outstretched claws to snatch them up.
Migrating birds vacation here, too!
Residents of South Florida playfully refer to tourists that visit here in the winter months as “snow birds”. Local birdwatchers see plenty of the feathered version in the Everglades around this time as well. The native beauty of purple gallinules and roseate spoonbills is complimented by migratory birds like cardinals and eastern bluebirds.
Regardless of season, you can see plenty of Everglades birds and wildlife near Miami at Mack’s Fish Camp. If you’d like to know more, please contact us online or call us toll-free at 786-536-7400. Or you can book an Everglades eco tour online.
Public Versus Private Airboat Tours
Having so many different types of habitats, much of them covered by water, taking an airboat tour would definitely be the best way to experience the Everglades. The question is which is the better option for you, public or private airboat tours?
The Florida Everglades is a magnificent place that offers a chance to explore that can’t be found near the beaches of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Being the largest subtropical ecosystem in the United States, it’s home to a great variety of native plants and wildlife. There may be zoos near the city where people can see exotic animals, but it’s far more exciting to view them in their natural habitat.
Public Airboat Tours
Public airboat tours are an affordable way to see the Everglades, because they usually include other activities with the admission price, like nature shows featuring Florida wildlife and, alligator wrestling. While offering a bigger bang for your buck, you may feel that you’ve traded a quality experience for quantity. Public airboat tours tend to run short, being only 30-45 minutes on average. Also, many public airboat tours are given on larger airboats which can’t move quickly, further limiting how far they can travel inside of an hour.
Another drawback from these higher-capacity boats is the overhead covering and lack of elevated seating can make it harder to see or photograph the wildlife or scenery.
Private Airboat Tours
Taking a private airboat tour is going to cost more money, but you’ll also receive more personal attention from your guide. Unlike the public rides, private tours typically last an hour or longer, and offer a better chance to learn plenty of valuable information about the Everglades from your tour guide.
And rather than seeing only a handful of Florida wildlife in a nature show, you’ll get to observe more species of wading birds, reptiles, and more in their natural environment. The longer duration of private tours will let you explore the many distinct habitats of the Everglades ecosystem.
What kind of airboat tour would you choose?
When visiting South Florida, there is plenty of adventure to be found west of the beach. All of the glow and noise of the coast is easily rivaled by venturing into the unique wilderness of the Everglades. If you’re looking to visit a one of a kind place, why settle for a “one size fits all” experience?
At Mack’s Fish Camp, we specialize in private airboat tours lasting from 1 to over 3 hours, with fifth-generation Florida Gladesmen as your guide. If you’re ready to trade the pre-packaged theme park experience for an authentic taste of Florida, come see us.
Postcards From Heaven: Everglades Sunsets
South Florida is praised for its many beaches, largely because of the glorious sunrises that happen there. Since another ocean isn’t that close by, people enjoying their vacation near Miami or Fort Lauderdale tend not to think much of sunsets. Little do they realize that there is a body of water in South Florida where the sunsets rival the sunrise over the sea, the Everglades’ own River of Grass.
The Science of Florida Sunsets
People often consider Florida Everglades sunsets to look like paintings, and like a real painting, sunsets are the result of combining different materials. Some people think having a lot of dust in the atmosphere enhances sunsets, but having clean air is the biggest factor in making epic sunsets.
Clean air helps scatter violet light wavelengths more than other ones because they are closer to the same size as air molecules, more than red light. A good example of this at work is seeing a blue sky overhead through polarized sunglasses on a clear day: notice how much more bold the blue is?
Sunlight takes longer to travel through the atmosphere at sunrise and sunset, and scatters more violet and blue light, showing more orange and red.
The Everglades Wet Season Lends a Hand
In the Everglades, when you move further away from the coast, you definitely get more fresh air than in the city. Out here, far west of cities like Miami, Hollywood, and Fort Lauderdale we also get plenty of another important ingredient for making a beautiful sunset, clouds! The Everglades wet season, which runs from mid-May until November, brings a lot of them in the afternoon, and they help set the stage for many colorful evenings.
With the air quality in the Florida Everglades being much better than it is in the city, clouds in the lower atmosphere can help add color to sunsets. But the most dazzling colors of an Everglades sunset show up after the sun passes through that layer of clouds. As the sun sinks past the lower atmosphere through the dust and haze, more sunlight reaches higher altitude clouds, producing vivid colors.
Living in this unique corner of Florida, the Gladesmen Culture brings us face to face with a wide variety of Florida wildlife, traveling across miles of different habitats in airboats, and facing extremes of seasonal weather. But at the end of each day, we’re regularly treated to beautiful sunsets that serve as postcards of another day in paradise, a paradise that’s ours to share with you.