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List of birds of Florida facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Northernmockingbird
The northern mockingbird is the state bird of Florida

Welcome to the amazing world of Florida's birds! This list shows all the different kinds of birds that have been seen and officially recorded in the sunny state of Florida. The Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC) keeps track of these birds.

As of November 2022, there are 539 different bird species on the official list! That's a lot of birds!

Here's what some of the letters next to the bird names mean:

  • (A) Accidental: This bird doesn't usually live in Florida. It's like a rare visitor who showed up by accident!
  • (I) Introduced: Humans brought this bird to North America, and now it lives and breeds in Florida.
  • (E) Extinct: This bird no longer exists anywhere in the world. It's sadly gone forever.
  • (e) Extirpated: This bird no longer lives in Florida, but you can still find it in other parts of the world.

More than 100 other "exotic species" (birds from other places) also fly freely in Florida's wild areas, according to the FOSRC. This list follows the official bird checklist from the American Ornithological Society (AOS).

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Bucephala-albeola-007
Bufflehead

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are super good at living in water. They have webbed feet for swimming, flat bills for finding food, and special oily feathers that keep them dry.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae

New World quails are small, plump birds that live on the ground. They look similar to Old World quails but are not closely related.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and their relatives. They are ground birds that vary in size. Many are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Flamingoes

Order: Phoenicopteriformes Family: Phoenicopteridae

Flamingoes are tall, social wading birds, usually about 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) tall. They live in warm parts of the world. Flamingos eat shellfish and algae by filtering them from the water with their unique, upside-down beaks.

Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe 0561
Pied-billed grebe

Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds that live in freshwater. They have special lobed toes that make them excellent swimmers and divers. However, their feet are set far back on their bodies, so they are clumsy on land.

Pigeons and Doves

Key West quail-dove (Geotrygon chrysia)
Key West quail-dove

Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are birds with sturdy bodies, short necks, and thin bills. They are found all over the world.

Cuckoos

Mangrove Cuckoo . Coccyzus minor - Flickr - gailhampshire
Mangrove cuckoo

Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars and Allies

Chuck-wills-widow RWD7
Chuck-will's-widow

Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized birds that are active at night. They usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Their soft feathers are colored to blend in with bark or leaves, helping them hide.

Potoos

Order: Nyctibiiformes Family: Nyctibiidae

Potoos are large birds related to nightjars. They hunt insects at night. They don't have the bristles around their mouths that true nightjars do.

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their lives flying. They have very short legs and almost never land on the ground. Instead, they perch on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long, swept-back wings that look like a crescent moon.

Hummingbirds

Rubythroathummer65
Ruby-throated hummingbird

Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in mid-air. They flap their wings incredibly fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

PurpleGallinule
Purple gallinule

Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae

This large family includes rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. They are usually found in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs with long toes, short rounded wings, and are not very strong fliers.

Limpkin

Order: Gruiformes Family: Aramidae

The limpkin is a unique bird that looks like a large rail. It is found in marshes with trees or bushes in the Caribbean, South America, and southern Florida.

Cranes

Grus canadensis-nbii m00554A
Sandhill crane

Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large, tall birds with long legs and necks. Unlike herons, cranes fly with their necks stretched out. Many cranes have special, loud "dances" to find a mate. They might also dance just for fun!

Thick-knees

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Burhinidae

Thick-knees are a group of wading birds mostly found in tropical areas. They are medium to large birds with strong black or yellow-black bills, big yellow eyes, and feathers that help them blend in. Even though they are waders, most prefer dry or semi-dry places.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts. Avocets have long legs and bills that curve upward. Stilts have super long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Haematopodidae

Oystercatchers are large, easy-to-spot, and noisy birds. They have strong bills that they use to smash or pry open molluscs (like clams).

Lapwings and Plovers

Snowy Plover srgb
Snowy plover

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, pointed wings. They usually live in open areas, often near water.

Jacanas

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Jacanidae

Jacanas are a family of wading birds found in tropical areas. You can recognize them by their huge feet and claws. These help them walk on floating plants in shallow lakes, which is where they like to live.

Sandpipers and Allies

Calidris-alba-001
Sanderling

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae

This is a large and varied family of small to medium-sized shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and more. Most of them eat small bugs they find in mud or sand. Different lengths of legs and bills allow many species to feed in the same area without fighting over food.

Pratincoles and Coursers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Glareolidae

Pratincoles have short legs, very long pointed wings, and long forked tails. What's unusual for a wader (a bird that wades in water) is that they usually catch insects while flying, like swallows. Their short bills help them eat while flying. They fly fast and gracefully, like a swallow or a tern.

Skuas and Jaegers

Stercorarius pomarinus off Mauritania 1
Pomarine jaeger

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas are medium to large seabirds. They are usually gray or brown, sometimes with white marks on their wings. They have longish bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like big, dark gulls but have a fleshy area above their upper bill. They are strong, acrobatic fliers.

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae

Alcids look a bit like penguins because they are black and white and stand upright. However, they are not closely related to penguins and can fly (except for one extinct type). Auks live on the open sea and only come to land to lay eggs and raise their young.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Larus delawarensis portrait
Ring-billed gull
Leasttern54
Least tern

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae

The Laridae family includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. They are medium to large seabirds, usually gray or white, often with black marks on their heads or wings. They have strong, longish bills and webbed feet.

Tropicbirds

Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae

Tropicbirds are slender white birds that live in tropical oceans. They have very long central tail feathers. Their long wings and heads have black markings.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, about the size of a large duck, but they are not related to ducks. They are mostly gray or black and have bills shaped like spears. Loons swim very well and fly well too, but they are clumsy on land because their legs are at the back of their bodies.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Diomedeidae

Albatrosses are among the biggest flying birds. The great albatrosses have the largest wingspans of any living birds.

Southern Storm-Petrels

Oceanites oceanicusPCCA20070623-3634B
Wilson's storm-petrel

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae

Storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds. They are related to petrels. They eat tiny crustaceans and small fish from the water's surface, often while hovering. Their flight is fluttery, sometimes like a bat.

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae

These storm-petrels look and act much like the southern storm-petrels. However, they are different enough genetically to be in their own family.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Sooty shearwater kaikoura
Sooty shearwater

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae

Procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels." They have unique tubular nostrils.

Storks

Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, heavy, wading birds with long legs and necks. They have long, strong bills and wide wings. Unlike some other wading birds, storks do not have special "powder down" feathers to clean fish slime. Storks also cannot make sounds with their throats.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds found in tropical oceans. They are black, or black and white, with long wings and deeply forked tails. Male frigatebirds have colorful throat pouches that they can inflate. They cannot swim or walk well and cannot take off from a flat surface. They have the largest wingspan compared to their body weight of any bird, allowing them to stay in the air for more than a week!

Boobies and Gannets

Morus-bassanus Northern Gannet
Northern gannet

Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae

This family includes gannets and boobies. Both are medium-large coastal seabirds that dive headfirst into the water to catch fish.

Anhingas

Order: Suliformes Family: Anhingidae

Anhingas, also called darters or snakebirds, are water birds that look like cormorants. They have long necks and long, straight beaks. They eat fish and can dive for a long time. Often, they swim with only their neck above the water, looking like a water snake.

Cormorants and Shags

Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds. They usually have mostly dark feathers and colored skin on their faces. Their bills are long, thin, and sharply hooked. They have four webbed toes.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with a special pouch under their beak. Like other birds in their group, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa (10159584906)
Cattle egret

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae

This family includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are wading birds with long necks and legs. Herons are generally larger, and egrets are smaller. The cattle egret is often seen near cattle, like on ranches. These birds eat bugs that the cattle stir up while grazing. Bitterns have shorter necks and are more secretive. Unlike other long-necked birds, these birds fly with their necks pulled back in a curve.

Ibises and Spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae

This family includes ibises and spoonbills. They have long, wide wings, long bodies, and even longer legs and necks. Ibises have bills that curve downward, while spoonbills have straight bills that are flattened at the end, like a spoon.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but they look similar because they evolved in similar ways. Like Old World vultures, they are scavengers, meaning they eat dead animals. Unlike Old World vultures, New World vultures have a good sense of smell to find carcasses. The turkey vulture has a red head, and the black vulture has a gray head. Black vultures have been seen bathing and drying their wings like cormorants, which might help them get rid of parasites.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae

The osprey family has only one type of bird. Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey. They have very large, strong, hooked beaks for tearing meat, strong legs, powerful claws, and excellent eyesight.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus,Chekika Day-use Area, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida
Red-shouldered hawk

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, kites, and harriers. They are birds of prey with very large, hooked beaks for tearing meat, strong legs, powerful claws, and sharp eyesight.

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls with big heads and unique heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful claws.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae

Typical owls are mostly solitary birds of prey that are active at night. They have large eyes that face forward, big ears, a beak like a hawk, and a clear circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Trogons

Order: Trogoniformes Family: Trogonidae

This family includes trogons and quetzals. They live in tropical forests around the world. They eat insects and fruit. Their wide bills and weak legs are suited to their diet and living in trees. Even though they fly fast, they don't like to fly long distances. Trogons have soft, often colorful feathers, and males and females look different.

Kingfishers

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs, and short tails.

Bee-eaters

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Meropidae

Bee-eaters are a group of birds mostly found in Africa, but also in southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. They have brightly colored feathers, slender bodies, and usually long central tail feathers. All are colorful and have long, curved-down bills and pointed wings, which make them look like swallows from far away.

Jacamars

Order: Piciformes Family: Galbulidae

Jacamars are birds from tropical South America, extending up to Mexico. They catch insects while flying. They are shiny, elegant birds with long bills and tails. They look and act like Old World bee-eaters, but are more closely related to puffbirds.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues for catching insects. Some have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their beaks, not their claws.

New World and African Parrots

Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae

Parrots have strong, curved bills, stand upright, and have strong legs with clawed feet that can grasp things (two toes forward, two backward). Many parrots are brightly colored. They range from about 3 inches (8 cm) to 3 feet (1 meter) long. Most of the over 150 species in this family live in the New World (Americas).

Old World Parrots

Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittaculidae

Like other parrots, these birds have strong curved bills, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed feet. Many are brightly colored. Old World parrots are found from Africa across southern Asia and Oceania to Australia and New Zealand.

Tityras and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tityridae

This family of birds is found in forests and woodlands in Central and South America. They are small to medium-sized birds.

Tyrant Flycatchers

La Sagra's flycatcher (Myiarchus sagrae)
La Sagra's flycatcher

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers live all over North and South America. They look a bit like Old World flycatchers but are stronger and have stronger bills. They don't have the complex songs of other songbirds. Most are plain-looking. As their name suggests, most eat insects.

Antbirds

Order: Passeriformes Family: Thamnophilidae

Antbirds are a large family of small birds found in Central and South America. They are forest birds that usually eat insects on or near the ground.

Ovenbirds

Order: Passeriformes Family: Furnariidae

Ovenbirds are a large family of small birds found in Central and South America. They eat insects and get their name from the fancy "oven-like" clay nests some species build. Others build stick nests or nest in tunnels. Woodcreepers are brownish birds that climb trees upright, using their stiff tails for support. They mainly eat insects from tree trunks.

  • Hylexetastes species, Hylexetastes sp. (A)

Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

Warbling Vireo - Sisters - Oregon S4E7012 (19236790445)
Warbling vireo

Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae

Vireos are small to medium-sized birds. They are usually greenish and look like wood warblers, but they have stronger bills.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are known for catching other birds and small animals. They sometimes stick the parts they don't eat onto thorns. A shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Florida Scrub Jay - Aphelocoma coerulescens, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida
Florida scrub-jay

Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae

This family includes crows, ravens, jays, and magpies. Corvids are larger than average songbirds, and some of the bigger ones are very smart.

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae

These are mostly small, stocky woodland birds with short, strong bills. Some have crests on their heads. They are adaptable birds that eat a mix of seeds and insects.

Larks

Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small ground birds known for their often fancy songs and display flights. Most larks look quite plain. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Hirundo-rustica-001
Barn swallow

Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae

This family of birds is built for catching food while flying. They have slender bodies, long pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are better for perching than walking.

Long-tailed Tits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Aegithalidae

Long-tailed tits are a family of small birds with medium to long tails. They build woven bag-like nests in trees. Most eat a mix of insects.

  • Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus (A)

Bulbuls

Order: Passeriformes Family: Pycnonotidae

Bulbuls are a family of medium-sized songbirds from Africa and tropical Asia. They are noisy and social birds, and often have beautiful songs.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look like titmice. They are very tiny birds that eat insects. The adults have colorful crowns on their heads, which is how they got their name.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae

Waxwings are a group of birds with soft, silky feathers and unique red tips on some of their wing feathers. These tips look like sealing wax, giving them their name. These birds live in trees in northern forests. They eat insects in summer and berries in winter.

Silky-Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Ptiliogonatidae

Silky-flycatchers are a small family of birds mostly found in Central America. They are related to waxwings, and most species have small crests.

Nuthatches

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have a special ability to climb down trees headfirst, unlike most other birds that only climb up. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails, and strong bills and feet.

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown on top and white underneath. They have thin, pointed, curved bills that they use to pull insects from tree bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Polioptilidae

The Polioptilidae family includes gnatcatchers and gnatwrens. They are a group of small birds that eat insects.

Wrens

Carolina wren
Carolina wren

Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and often hard-to-see birds, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin, curved-down bills. Several species often hold their tails straight up. All wrens eat insects.

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Brown Thrasher-27527-2
Brown thrasher

Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae

This family includes thrashers, mockingbirds, and catbirds. They are famous for their amazing songs and their ability to copy many other bird calls and sounds they hear outside. These birds usually have dull gray and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized birds with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly and are very social. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Their feathers are usually dark with a shiny, metallic look.

Thrushes and Allies

American Robin 2006
American robin

Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are a group of birds mostly found in the Old World. They are plump, soft-feathered, small to medium-sized birds that eat insects or sometimes everything. They often feed on the ground. Many have beautiful songs.

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large family of small birds. These are mainly small birds that live in trees and eat insects, often catching them in the air.

Waxbills and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae

Estrildid finches are small birds from the Old World tropics. They are social and often live in groups. They eat seeds and have short, thick, pointed bills. They look similar in shape and habits but have many different feather colors and patterns.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small birds. Generally, sparrows are small, plump, brownish or grayish birds with short tails and strong bills. Sparrows eat seeds, but they also eat small insects.

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae

This family includes wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. They are small, slender birds with medium to long tails. They eat insects from the ground in open areas.

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

Carduelis pinus CT8
Pine siskin

Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae

Finches are birds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-sized and have strong, often cone-shaped bills. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine main flight feathers. They have a bouncy flight, flapping and then gliding with closed wings. Most sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae

This group of birds used to be with the New World sparrows. They are different in some ways and are usually found in open grassy areas.

Old World Buntings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae

This family of birds has only one type of bird. Until 2017, the New World sparrows were also considered part of this family.

New World Sparrows

Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) (2862896572)
Grasshopper sparrow

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passerellidae

These birds were part of the Emberizidae family until 2017. Most are called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

Spindalises

Order: Passeriformes Family: Spindalidae

The birds in this small family, which was recognized in 2017, live in the Greater Antilles. One type of spindalis is seen quite often in Florida.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteriidae

This bird was once thought to be a wood-warbler, but experts weren't sure. In 2017, it was given its own family.

Troupials and Allies

Boat-tailed Grackle RWD CedarIslandFerry
Boat-tailed grackle

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae

Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful birds found only in the New World. This group includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and orioles. Most are mainly black, often with bright yellow, orange, or red colors.

New World Warblers

Dendroica coronata4
Yellow-rumped warbler

Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae

Wood warblers are a group of small, often colorful birds found only in the New World. Most live in trees, but some live on the ground. Most birds in this family eat insects.

Cardinals and Allies

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) (24160640865)
Painted bunting

Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae

Cardinals are strong, seed-eating birds with powerful bills. They usually live in open woodlands. Males and females often have different feather colors.

Tanagers and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Thraupidae

Tanagers are a large group of small to medium-sized birds found only in the New World, mostly in tropical areas. Many species are brightly colored. As a family, they eat many different things, but some specialize in fruits, seeds, insects, or other foods. Most have short, rounded wings.

Notable Exotic Birds

The following birds were brought to Florida by humans. Even though the FOSRC doesn't officially say they are "established," they have groups that can live and reproduce on their own. You might see them in the wild!

See Also

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List of birds of Florida Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.