Winter Birds of Southern Florida

It’s winter in North America — a good time to head for the subtropical realms of South Florida and listen to the region’s birds, such as the secretive Mangrove Cuckoo pictured here. Rarely seen, it sings sporadically in winter. When it does, you’re sure to take notice. A sweeter voice belongs to the Spot-breasted Oriole. Found in suburban neighborhoods, these birds were brought to Florida in the 1940s from Central America. And we can’t forget the sharp-edged phrases of the White-eyed Vireo or the eerie cries of the Limpkin.

BirdNote®
Winter Birds of Southern Florida
Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

In North America, it’s winter: not a bad time to head for the subtropical realms of South Florida and listen in on some of the region’s birds. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/176127].

Those are the sharp-edged phrases of a White-eyed Vireo. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/176127].

This small, skulky songbird is a full-time resident in Florida and might sing any time of year. There lurks a more secretive bird in the Everglades and Florida Keys: the Mangrove Cuckoo. Rarely seen, it sings sporadically in winter but, when it does, you’ll know it: [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/129709, 0.14-.21]

A sweeter voice belongs to the Spot-breasted Oriole. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/164045, 0.10-.16] Found in suburban neighborhoods of Southeast Florida, Spot-breasted Orioles were first brought to Florida in the 1940s from Central America. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/164045, 0.10-.16]

Our final stop takes us to a wooded swamp, home to one of the continent’s most peculiar birds—and with a voice to match. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/73922, 0.30-.36]

It’s a wading bird called a Limpkin. Tall, brown, long-beaked, its eerie cry is unmistakable. [http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/73922, 0.30-.36]

For BirdNote I’m Mary McCann.

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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. White-eyed Vireo [176127] recorded by G A Keller; Mangrove Cuckoo [129709] recorded by Michael J Andersen; Spot-breasted Oriole [164045] recorded by David L. Ross Jnr; Limpkin [73922] recorded by G A Keller
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black

ID# florida-02-2015-12-22florida-02