Capturing Native Florida: I often wonder, being in Florida. What was it like for the many species of birds seen on the beaches, wading along the shore, and flying endlessly over us;...

EdwardMcC Loc: Vero Beach, FL

I often wonder, being in Florida. What was it like for the many species of birds seen on the beaches, wading along the shore, and flying endlessly over us; before humanity arrived? Given the course of a growing population Florida is experiencing, I am concerned and interested in how many species will adapt and survive. I love photographing birds and wonder how much longer I will have that pleasure? Open.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Besides the human factor there are others that influence birds. A good example, for the past two years I have hardly seen birds at Shark Valley (Everglades National Park.)
Water levels have been high and they cannot feed very well under those conditions.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Humans have been pretty hard on the bird population here and elsewhere. Birds that were easy to kill were decimated (carrier pigeons for example). Many species in Florida (and the tropics)were decimated in the early 1900's for the feather trade ( many going onto ladies hats). Today's impacts are habitat loss and climate change, as well as pesticides. But inexorably the population explosion - both globally and rushing into Florida, is going to be very hard on our wildlife.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

EdwardMcC wrote:

I often wonder, being in Florida. What was it like for the many species of birds seen on the beaches, wading along the shore, and flying endlessly over us; before humanity arrived? Given the course of a growing population Florida is experiencing, I am concerned and interested in how many species will adapt and survive. I love photographing birds and wonder how much longer I will have that pleasure? Open.

Loss of habitat is an issue but there are lots of areas that are either protected of or otherwise unaffected by humanity. A large part of the southern part of the state has become developed along the coast and the eastern corridor is much more populated than elsewhere other than around Orlando.

The Everglades itself is not like it was before the arrival of people who thought it would be a good idea to manage the water levels and cross it with highways.

Once the harvesting of feathers was banned the large bird populations rebounded and we can still see plenty of rookeries spread around the state, even inside developed areas.

Birds can adapt by migrating, finding more suitable environments. But they have a lot of alternatives inside the state as well as nearby.

Was it much different before humanity arrived? Probably not to the birds. They just moved around and not always away from people.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

EdwardMcC wrote:

I often wonder, being in Florida. What was it like for the many species of birds seen on the beaches, wading along the shore, and flying endlessly over us; before humanity arrived? Given the course of a growing population Florida is experiencing, I am concerned and interested in how many species will adapt and survive. I love photographing birds and wonder how much longer I will have that pleasure? Open.

The bird population in Florida is under attack by greedy home/apartment/business/industry developers.
City, county, and state governments publicly deplore it but taxes from these developments behind the public view easily swing those decisions towards the developers.
It is very sad to watch it happen before my very photographic eyes.
I have personally seen about a 45% drop in birds in the last 6 years.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Welcome to the forum.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I have to tell you, I am retiring this year & looking at real estate from NC down to southern Fla. & some out west like Co., Az,. NM, Tx, etc. As i look at properties in Florida on the West coast, the houses are packed tight like sardines in a can. A lot of the barrier Islands didn't even look like there was public parking available. Hopefully the Parks & Wildlife refuges are helping & the wildlife will adapt with the ever changing conditions, man made & environmental.

ladysue Loc: Rhinebeck, NY

On a trip to Florida in the mid eighties, I remember coming across a small lake ringed with 2 or 3 dozen egrets and herons. You wouldn't see that now. Another reason for the decimation of birds and all wildlife in the Everglades was the uneducated release of Burmese Pythons that now eat everything from birds eggs to alligators. A human-caused catastrophe.

Canisdirus

Bird populations are way down...everywhere...not just Florida.
I designed and built wetlands for 25 years...all over the South.
I have been in what some would consider...very wild places...but they aren't really.
The wild is gone...and what is left is managed.
It just appears wild to new generations discovering it.
It's like not missing a moustache. Hard to miss if you did not know it was there.
Folks going down to the Everglades...wow...it's so big.
80% is gone. What is left is the shadow.
I have slides of the keys from the 1950's... the difference is difficult to comprehend.
If I had slides from the 1900's ... it would be more difficult.

Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL

I am a Floridian by birth but moved away for my career and then moved back when we retired. We lived in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Miami, Sarasota and Tampa and went to school in Jacksonville & Pensacola and now live on the east coast. Find a place that has 10-15 years left in it before it is projected to be congested or has natural boundaries to deter encroachment. If possible purchase enough land to give you some breathing room for the future. Enjoy the natural beauty of nearby ocean, parks, rivers and lakes everyday. We love it but we hear the footsteps. We enjoyed Hawaii for almost 30 years on a seasonal basis but even it became overpopulated, at least for us. The fishing here dropped by 75% but the birds seem to be holding for now. In Florida the interior fires will get you, on the coast the hurricanes, plus the summer humidity and lightning storms are menacing everywhere but the people just keep coming. Enjoy your search but even more enjoy your well earned retirement. Good luck.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Canisdirus wrote:

Bird populations are way down...everywhere...not just Florida. ...

Down a lot, but not way down.

Audubon says that in North America it's "more than 1 in 4". The NY times said, "The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970."

Different areas, like grasslands and forests, have been more severely affected but Florida doesn't have much of either. The apparent decline here has more to do with displacement.

But we do have more than our share of snow birds.

ELNikkor

Welcome to the forum! I lived all over Florida from the 70's to the 90's; never got bored of it. There are still remote, quiet places, and areas where land is cheap. For a little perspective, I moved from Florida to Java, Indonesia in 1995. Java is an island (50,000 sq. miles) and has a population of 150 million people, yet, we still found many remote and quiet locations. Florida is larger by land area (65,000 sq. miles) and has a population of 22 million. Even if you double the population for half a year due to snow bird infestation, it is still less than 1/3 the population of Java year-round. Also, a lot of Florida's population is made up of squabbling old former New Yorkers stacked on top of each other in Hallandale, whereas there are comparatively few high-rises outside of greater Jakarta.

Canisdirus

selmslie wrote:

Down a lot, but not i way /i down. br br url=... (show quote)

I consider 29% in 50 years ... WAY DOWN.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Canisdirus wrote:

I consider 29% in 50 years ... WAY DOWN.

That’s in North America (which includes Mexico) but not as much in Florida.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

EdwardMcC wrote:

I often wonder, being in Florida. What was it like for the many species of birds seen on the beaches, wading along the shore, and flying endlessly over us; before humanity arrived? Given the course of a growing population Florida is experiencing, I am concerned and interested in how many species will adapt and survive. I love photographing birds and wonder how much longer I will have that pleasure? Open.

Probably until you can't do it any more. I wouldn't worry about it.