Common South Florida Wetland Wildlife

American Alligator

American Alligators have been on this planet for over 150 million years. They reside almost exclusively in freshwater rivers, lakes, swamps, and marshes of the southeastern United States, primarily Florida and Louisiana. They can live from 35 to 50 years in the wild, and can grow from 10 to 15 feet long.

Anhinga - Female

Anhingas are found in the warmer parts of the Americas. Their length ranges from 30 to 37 inches, with their wingspan around 43 inches. Anhingas live in shallow, slow-moving, sheltered waters. They can be found often drying their feathers with their wings stretched. In the wild, they can live up to 10 years.

Belted Kingfisher

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Black Neck Stilt

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Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

You can tell Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks by their salmon colored beaks and legs/feet. They also have a whistle sound for the call. They spend more time than other ducks walking on land or perching in trees. Their length is from 18 to 20 inches with a wingspan from 30 to 37 inches. You can find these ducks foraging in shallow, freshwater ponds, mangroves, rivers and lagoons. Their average lifespan is 8 years.

Blue Winged Teal Ducks

Blue-Winged Teal Ducks are the latest ducks to migrate northward in spring, and one of the first to migrate southward in fall. They are around 14-16 inches long with a wingspan of 22-24 inches. These little ducks live in shallow ponds and pond-marsh mixes. Blue-Winged Teal Ducks eat aquatic insects as well as vegetation and grains. The oldest recorded Blue-Winged Teal duck was 23 year old.

Cattle Egrets

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Double-Crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorants are found throughout North America, and the one most frequently seen in freshwater. They breed on the coast as well as on large inland lakes. They form colonies of stick nests built high in trees on islands or in patches of flooded timber. They are 27 to 35 inches long and its wingspan is around 45-48 inches. Cormorants often stand in the sun with their wings spread out to dry as they have less oil on their feathers and need to dry them out. The can live up to 20 years.

Florida Softshell Turtle (juvenile)

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Fulvous Whistling Duck

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Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis’ ranges in length from 19 to 26 inches and has a wingspan of about 36 inches. They can be found along the east coast of the United States from Maine to Texas. In the winter, they live from the Carolinas down to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. Glossy ibis’ can be found in a variety of wetlands including marshes, estuaries, coastal bays, flooded fields and swamps. They like to eat fiddler crabs, crawfish, insects and small snakes. Their lifespan is around 26 years.

Great Blue Herons

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Great Egret

Great Egrets average 40 inches tall with a wingspan of 55 inches. Great egrets are found on the Atlantic Coast from Maine down to Florida, as far south as Texas, and west to the Great Lakes. You can find them in streams, lakes, ponds, mud flats, saltwater and freshwater marshes. Frogs, snakes, crayfish, fish, mice, crickets, aquatic insects, grasshoppers, and many other insects are what Great Egrets eat. Their average lifespan is about 15 years.

Green Heron

Green Herons mostly live throughout the eastern United States near wetlands, both salt and freshwater and in mangrove swamps.They average 16 to 18 inches tall, and their wingspan 25-27 inches. Green herons are carnivorous, mainly eating fish and invertebrates. Their average lifespan is anywhere from 8 to 11 years.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterflies live throughout the southern United States southward through Mexico, Central America and the West Indies to South America. Adults have a wingspan range of 2-1/2 to 4 inch. Females are generally larger than males. They live in pastures, open fields, second-growth subtropical forest and edges, city gardens.

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

Halloween Pennant Dragonflies are commonly found in Florida, where they are in season all year round. They are around 1-1/2 inches long. Look for them near quiet or very slowly-moving waters or hunting at grass-top-height over weedy. Dragonflies only live about 6 months.

Least Bittern

Least Bitterns are shy herons who are one of the most difficult North American marsh birds to spot. Their length ranges from 11 to 14 inches and its average wingspan is 16 to 18 inches. They live in freshwater or brackish marshes with tall emergent vegetation, and feast on small fish and insects. They migrate from the northern parts of the United States in winter for the southernmost coasts of the United States. Their average lifespan is about 8 years.

Limpkin

Limpkins are shy birds who can be found in freshwater marshes, swamps, and on the shores of ponds, lakes and rivers. Their diet includes Apple Snails and freshwater mussels. They build their nests using vines, sticks, leaves, and grass, and build anywhere from ground level up to 40 feet above ground (or water). They lay 3 to 8 eggs which can take approximately 27 days to incubate. Within one day the baby limpkin is out of the nest following either parent.

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Herons are a common but inconspicuous resident of marshes and estuaries in the Southeast. They eat mainly small fish, amphibians and crustaceans, and nest in trees, usually among other nesting herons and wading birds. Little Blue Herons have a body length of 27-30 inches with a wingspan of 40 inches. They can live up to 7 years old.

Loggerhad Shrike

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Marsh Rabbit

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Moorhens

Moorhens, aka Common Gallinules, are recognized from around the world, most differing only in size or brightness of plumage. They are around 14 inches long, and their wingspan is 21-24 inches. They prefer ponds, canals or brackish marches with tall vegetation. They eat seeds of grasses and sedges, and some snails. The oldest recorded Common Gallinule was over 9 years old.

Mottled Duck

Mottled Ducks are a non-migratory year-round resident of Florida living in brackish and freshwater marshes, ponds and wet prairies. Their average size is 17-24 inches with a wingspan between 31 and 33 inches. Closely related to the Mallard, they can be easily mistaken for a female Mallard. Their diet consists of small aquatic invertebrates, insects, as well as plant material such as grass seeds, stems and roots. Mottled ducks have relatively short lifespans, on average they live for only 2 years.

Night Heron (juvenile)

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Northern Raccoon

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Osprey

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Pig Frog

Pig Fogs grunt like a pig, hence the name. Like all "true frogs," they have large eardrums and webbed hind feet. Pig Frogs are between 3-5 inches. They are found throughout Florida. They breed in quiet, permanent bodies of water, including ponds (natural or man-made) sloughs, cypress domes, wet prairies, canals, and ditches. Not much is known about how long they live, but it can be anywhere from 4 to 15 years.

Queen Butterfly

Queen butterflies live in the Deep South and stray as far north as the Great Plains and even New England in the summer. They have a 3 – 4 inch wingspan and share similar coloring as Monarchs, but are actually very easy to tell apart, especially when viewed with their wings open, as they have fewer black lines and are usually a deeper orange color. They live wherever milkweeds grow — urban and suburban gardens, meadows, fields, marshes, deserts, forest edges.

Red-Bellied Cooter

Florida Red-Bellied Cooters range from 9 to 13 inches. heir heads are striped yellow, while their caprice has a dark background with a yellow or orange pattern. Cooters are found in freshwater throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain and prefer ponds, swamps, marshes and slow-moving rivers. They are often found basking on logs. Females feed mainly on aquatic vegetation, while the males prey on aquatic invertebrates. They can live up to 40 years.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Roseatte Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbills average 28 to 34 inches in length with a 48-52 inch wingspan. They can be found in coastal marshes, lagoons, mudflats, mangrove keys. They are common in coastal Florida, Texas, and southwest Louisiana. Roseate Spoonbills eat small fish, aquatic invertebrates. Diet is mostly small fish such as minnows and killifish, also shrimp, crayfish, crabs, aquatic insects (especially beetles), mollusks, slugs. Eats some plant material, including roots and stems of sedges

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egrets average 22 to 26 inches tall and its wingspan 39 inches. They winter in mangroves, saltwater lagoons, freshwater swamps, grassy ponds, and temporary pools, and forage on beaches, shallow reefs, and wet fields. Fish are what the Snowy Egrets prefer. Their average lifespan is about 15 years.

Tricolored Heron w/ baby

Tricolored Herons can be found in marshes, ponds and shallow waters of rivers. They hunt fish, insects and other small prey. Tricolored Herons are often observed wading in shallow water, where they plunge their bills into the water to catch fish. They breed along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States from Texas to southern Maine, and breed further inland in Florida. They measure between 23 and 27 inches and have a wingspan averaging 37 inches. They can live up to 17 years in the wild.

White Ibis

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White Peacock Butterfly

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Wood Storks

Wood Storks are large white, bald-headed wading birds found in the southeastern swamps. It is the only stork breeding in the United States. They can grow from 33 to 45 inches tall with a wingspan from 60 to 69 inches. They mainly eat fish, preferably minnows. They open their bill and stick it in the water, waiting for a fish to wander too close. It then snaps its bill shut very quickly … not many birds can match the speed. Wood Storks can live up to 10 years.