Alligators
Alligators are the number one fear that folks new to Florida have about playing in the outdoors. Here's how to handle yourself when you're in alligator territory.
Identification of Florida species via photos taken on Florida’s trails
American Flamingo
Few birds epitomize Florida more than the elegant, hot-pink American flamingo. Here's how to identify flamingos and find them across Florida.
Anhinga
Surfacing from their dives to chase fish, anhingas, with their long necks, look like snakes at attention, which is why they are known as snakebirds, or water turkeys.
Bald Cypress
A giant among trees, the bald cypress is an imposing sight. Unlike its relative the pond cypress, it prefers growing along water in motion, such as rivers, streams, and sluggish swamps.
Black Mangrove
Black mangroves have shiny leaves and dark round seed cases. Their most distinguishing feature is their pnuemataphores, finger-like protrusions around the tree like slender, miniature cypress knees.
Black-bellied whistling duck
With an unusual color and shape compared to most ducks you see, the black-bellied whistling duck is surprisingly common throughout all of Florida.
Black-crowned Night Heron
Found along coastlines and freshwater wetlands, the Black-crowned Night-Heron is an elusive species.
Brown Pelican
The brown pelican is one of two species of pelicans found in Florida, the white pelican being the other. They have distinctive pouches under their bills and cannot be mistaken for the white pelican due to the size and color difference.
Buttonwood
Buttonwood grows upland, on the land side of the mangrove community, tolerant of rooting in loose sand, rock, and dried marl.
Cabbage Palm
The state tree of Florida, the cabbage palm (also called sabal palm) is an iconic symbol found in almost every habitat in Florida, although it is less frequently seen in upland areas.
Caracara
An unusual-looking Florida raptor, the crested caracara is Mexico’s national bird. They are members of the falcon family, but their heads look very parrot-like—a red face and a thick curved bill offset their black-and-white plumage.
Cattle egret
A colonial nesting bird, the cattle egret is often seen in large flocks overhead in morning and evening, heading to and from their roosts and nests in shrubs along shorelines.