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Birds of Brevard Zoo
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Dec 27, 2018 08:11:22   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
A national symbol of the United States, the bald eagle is an Endangered Species success story. Nearly wiped out by hunting, destruction of nesting habitat, and the chemical DDT, there were only 487 nesting pairs remaining in the wild by 1963. Today, there are more than 9,700 nesting pairs.

Bald Eagle by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Brevard Zoo's Sea Turtle Healing Center is the only sea turtle rehabilitation center in Brevard County. Brevard Zoo has been recognized as a leading institution in top ten zoo lists and awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Brevard Zoo is involved in efforts to restore native oysters and mangroves in the Indian River Lagoon to ensure cleaner water and stable shorelines. The zoo welcomes more than 400,000 guests annually.

The Northern crested caracara is a resident in Cuba, northern South America, most of Central America and Mexico, just reaching the southernmost parts of the United States, including Florida. The caracara population found in Florida is considered a relict population of northern caracaras that date to the last glacial period, which ended around 12,500 years ago. The southern extent of the last Ice Age ended hundreds of miles north of what is now Florida. The Gulf Coast and Florida was covered in an oak savanna at that time. As temperatures increased, the savanna between Florida and Texas disappeared. Caracaras were able to survive in the prairies of central Florida as well as in the marshes along the St. Johns River.

Crested Caracara


The boat-tailed grackle is a passerine bird found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the southeastern United States. It is found in coastal saltwater marshes, and in Florida, also on inland waters. These birds forage on the ground, in shallow water, or in shrubs. They will steal food from other birds and zoo patrons. They are omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, and grain, even small birds.

Boat-tailed Grackle


Brevard Zoo's mission is wildlife conservation through education and participation. Through daily presentations, summer camps, field trips and an onsite "Zoo School", the Zoo’s education department impacts tens of thousands of children each year. As part of the "Lagoon Quest" program, every fourth grader in Brevard Public Schools is brought to the Lagoon for two full days of hands-on exploration and learning.

Sandhill cranes have one of the longest fossil histories of any extant bird. A 10-million-year-old crane fossil found in Nebraska may be from a prehistoric relative or the direct ancestor of sandhill cranes. The oldest unequivocal sandhill crane fossil is 2.5 million years old, older by half than the earliest remains of most living species of birds, primarily found from after the Pliocene / Pleistocene boundary some 1.8 million years ago.

Sandhill Crane


The barred owl is distributed throughout most of the eastern United States, as well as much of southern Canada. These owls have few predators, but young, unwary owls may be taken by cats. The most significant predator of barred owls is the great horned owl. The barred owl has been known to live more than 20 years in the wild.

Barred Owl


These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.

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Dec 27, 2018 08:23:44   #
grandpaw
 
Nice set of photos.

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Dec 27, 2018 08:29:19   #
Lyle Johnson Loc: central Florida
 
Thank you

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Dec 27, 2018 08:32:50   #
bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur
 
Paul,
These are terrific. Often I find zoos and sanctuaries difficult places to get "natural" shots, but by using head/portraits you have solved that. Striking, well exposed, great detail. Thank you for posting.

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Dec 27, 2018 08:43:22   #
Pop Pop Loc: Lake Mary, FL
 
Beautiful, beautiful. Your animal (and plane) shots are incomparable!

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Dec 27, 2018 08:49:47   #
Charlie Schomer
 
WOW!!!! Really nice photos!!!!

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Dec 27, 2018 08:51:25   #
Irvingite Charles Loc: Irving, Tx
 

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Dec 27, 2018 09:14:16   #
Stevieboy Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida
 
Always enjoy your posts. Excellent photography and narrative. Keep it up and be well.

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Dec 27, 2018 09:24:06   #
phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York
 
Always a joy to see your stuff! Merry Christmas!

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Dec 27, 2018 09:31:19   #
chuckrem Loc: Katy, Tx
 
Those are absolutely beautiful!

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Dec 27, 2018 09:37:06   #
ELNikkor
 
Excellent! Didn't know the Caracara was still in Florida until now. Thanks for sharing, made my morning!

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Dec 27, 2018 10:21:50   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
phlash46 wrote:
Always a joy to see your stuff! Merry Christmas!

Thank you Bruce! Belated Merry Christmas.

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Dec 27, 2018 10:22:15   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
ELNikkor wrote:
Excellent! Didn't know the Caracara was still in Florida until now. Thanks for sharing, made my morning!

Thank you ELNikkor! I'll have to defer to Brevards' knowledge of Florida wildlife to confirm the Caracara is still flying loose in FLA.

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Dec 27, 2018 10:23:05   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
bajadreamer wrote:
Paul,
These are terrific. Often I find zoos and sanctuaries difficult places to get "natural" shots, but by using head/portraits you have solved that. Striking, well exposed, great detail. Thank you for posting.

Thank you bajadreamer! I enjoy the relative newer zoos such as Brevard where the animals are exhibited with distance or moats rather than glass and chain barriers. Glad you enjoyed.

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Dec 27, 2018 10:24:35   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Thank you Jeff / grandpaw, Lyle Johnson, Dennis / Pop Pop, Charlie , Irvingite Charles, Steve, chuckrem! I visited Brevard on a whim. I didn't even see the whole zoo spending so much time with the animals in the Florida section and a few other areas, in my todo queue. Glad you enjoyed.

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