Tag: Florida Birding

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Crested Caracara

Posted in birding, Friday's Feathered Friends, PhotographyTagged , , , , 32 Comments

Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I’ve been away visiting my Step-dad in FL and while there I had two full days of birding. It was a fantastic visit.

We had a beach day, we ate fresh seafood a couple of times, and Greek food at Hellas in Tarpon Springs. It’s a family favorite.

Birding was awesome. I picked up 12 “lifers” this trip and this adult Crested Caracara is one of them.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Crested Caracara

Fun Facts:

The Crested Caracara looks like a hawk with its sharp beak and talons, behaves like a vulture, and is technically a large tropical black-and-white falcon. It is instantly recognizable standing tall on long yellow-orange legs with a sharp black cap set against a white neck and yellow-orange face. The Crested Caracara is a bird of open country and reaches only a few states in the southern U.S. It flies low on flat wings, and routinely walks on the ground.

  • A common subject of folklore and legends throughout Central and South America, the Crested Caracara is sometimes called the “Mexican eagle.”
  • Although it looks like a long-legged hawk the Crested Caracara is actually a falcon.
  • The Crested Caracara is the only falcon that collects material to build a nest. Other falcons lay their eggs in an old nest built by another species or in a scrape on the ground.
  • The oldest recorded Crested Caracara was at least 21 years, 9 months old when it was identified by its band in 2015 in Florida. It was originally banded in the same state in 1994.
  • Fun facts gleaned from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Crested_Caracara/overview

I’m really behind with your blogs, but I’ll catch up.

Have a wonderful week-end, everyone!

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- The Anhinga

Posted in Bird Photography, Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged , , , , , , , , 39 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

The Anhinga was one of 4 birds I really wanted to see while I was in Florida in September and I saw 3 of them! One male and two Females…I think.

It’s another pre-historic cool looking bird.

I think this is a male because his neck is black. He’s drying his wings.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

Here’s the female also drying out her wings. Like Cormorants they don’t have waterproof feathers so they get on a perch or land and spread them open to dry them out.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
As I crept closer to her to get a better shot I spooked her and off she flew.

Fun Facts:

  • The Anhinga’s distinctive shape earned it the nickname “water turkey” for its turkeylike tail, and “snake bird” for its long snakelike neck as it slithers through the water.
  • Unlike most waterbirds, the Anhinga doesn’t have waterproof feathers. While that may seem like a disadvantage for their watery lifestyle, their wet feathers and dense bones help them slowly submerge their bodies under the water so they can slyly stalk fish.
  • The name Anhinga comes from the Tupi Indians in Brazil, meaning “devil bird” or “evil spirit of the woods.”
  • The oldest recorded Anhinga was at least 12 years old when it was shot in Louisiana in 1948.

Fun facts gleaned from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Anhinga/overview

We may have a break from the wind and beat the rain this morning so I’m going birding with friends which means I’ll be a bit late checking out your blogs, and reading comments.

more to come…