Maine to Texas and Back to Wisconsin

Shrikes are small to medium sized perching birds with a stocky head, short wings, and a long tail. Shrikes are solitary birds. Among the most predatory of passerines, they hunt by watching for prey from perches that offer good vantage points such as power lines, fence posts, and the tops of trees. Once a mouse, small bird, or insect is spotted, they swoop down to grasp the prey item and snap its neck with their bill. The prey item is then carried to a roost for eating or storage for later use.  Shrikes, including the Loggerhead and Northern Shrikes, are most well known for their habit of impaling dead prey items such as grasshoppers, mice, and even small birds on thorns or barbed wire. Their habit of storing food in this manner has earned them the nickname of butcherbird.  They have strong legs and feet to help with seizing prey, and a distinctive strong, hooked bill that has a tooth-like notch in the upper mandible for cutting the spinal cord of small vertebrate prey.

(eBird Pro)

Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage with blue beak. Contrasted with other photos taken at different times of the year. In addition to the color of beak change, the legs also change color. The image with the beak pointed to the sky is taken while in a mating pose. A few other images added from those taken over the years including a juvenile and an adult on the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron likes to hunt and feed at night and we occasionally see them sleeping in the daytime.  Here we found him trying to sleep in the mangrove today. I have added photos of another Yellow-crowned Night-Heron we discovered in Richardson Park in Wilton Manor Florida today. Note at one point, probably while trying to sleep, we see his Nictitating Membrane, the protective layer over his eye.

The snowy plover is among the rarest endemic shorebirds in the Americas. Since 2014, it is listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN because of a moderately rapid population decline caused primarily by habitat degradation and human disturbance. At the beginning of the breeding season, males excavate multiple nest scrapes that are advertised to females; one of these scrapes is later selected for breeding. Some females will desert their brood soon after the chicks hatch to re-mate with another male, while their first mate will continue to rear the chicks. Such polygamy is uncommon in birds, and is possibly a strategy to maximize breeding success. (Wikipedia )

The common English name “chuck-will’s-widow ” is an onomatopoeia from the bird’s song. Alternative names include “chuckwuts-widow” and “chip-fell-out-of-a-oak”.

This bird is sometimes confused with the better-known whippoorwill (Antrostomus vociferus), because of their similar calls and unusual names. Though rather closely related, they are two distinct species.

It is the largest nightjar or nighthawk in North America. In length, it ranges from 28 to 33 cm (11 to 13 in). The wingspan can range from 58 to 66 cm (23 to 26 in).

The repetitive song is often heard at night. It consists of a series of calls with a vibrating middle note between two shorter notes, not much shifting in pitch.  It eats primarily insects, particularly those active at night such as moths, beetles, and winged ants. It will also eat small birds and bats, swallowing them whole.

Notice the feelers around the mouth on the cropped image. The primary term for the stiff, hair-like tactile bristles found around the mouth or base of the beak in many bird species is rictal bristles. These structures, often found in insectivorous and nocturnal birds, are sometimes referred to as facial bristles, vibrissae, or simply sensory bristles. (Unfortunately the bird was sleeping in a safe place covered by overgrowth making a clean image without overlying branches impossible as you can see with the green overlying the images.)

From Wikipedia

Roseate Spoonbills are iconic pink wading birds, a threatened but recovering native species in Florida, found in coastal wetlands, bays, and mangroves, known for their unique spoon-shaped bill used to filter feed in shallows; they are a key indicator species for Everglades health.

Key Characteristics

• Appearance: Striking pink plumage, white neck/back, scarlet wing patches, yellow-green head, and a long, flat bill.
• Diet: Shrimp and small crustaceans that get their color from algae, giving the birds their pink hue.
• Feeding: Sweep their bills side-to-side in shallow water, snapping shut on prey. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron complaining about disturbance of his sleep. Naturally they sleep during the day. Can often be found sleeping in the same spot each day. Here in Wakodahatchee Wetlands in southern Florida.