Florida Avian Conservation

05/09/2026

Happy Migratory Bird Day! I hope everyone was able to get outside and watch some of the beautiful migratory birds that pass through the United States every spring and fall!

02/16/2026

Check out this interesting program about long term monitoring of birds.

https://www.facebook.com/share/18KtokDpm9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

"Birds as Bioindicators"
(virtual program)
Friday, February 20, at 7PM

Join us as National Aviary Ornithologist Robert Mulvihill introduces us to ongoing field research and education focusing on birds as bioindicators of environment health. Birds have a long and storied history in conservation and environmental protection. Their unique physiology, ubiquitous position in terrestrial and aquatic food chains at local to global scales, and broad familiarity and popularity make birds especially effective indicators of and messengers for environmental problems.

Robert S. (Bob) Mulvihill has been the National Aviary’s Ornithologist since 2011. He developed an interest in birds at an early age and began volunteering at Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve while he completed his B.S. in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his M.S. in Biology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Bob spent nearly 30 years at Powdermill, banding hundreds of thousands of birds during his tenure. He has extensive experience with community science, having served as a project coordinator and co-editor of the Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania from 2004-2010, and spearheading the Pittsburgh edition of Smithsonian Institution’s Neighborhood Nestwatch from 2013-2019. Bob has authored some forty scientific articles on a wide range of ornithological topics including molt, migration, and breeding biology of birds. In addition, and he has written more than a hundred popular articles and blog posts about birds and nature. He has received awards in recognition of his efforts on behalf of bird conservation from the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology.

Zoom Link: on our website the day of the program.

10/03/2025

If you spot a flash of olive-green and white with a dash of red flitting through the trees is likely to be a Red-eyed Vireo foraging amongst the tree tops. These birds are known to sing tirelessly throughout the summer months, with some males calling more than 20,000 times a day. In the fall, they begin their journey south until they reach their wintering ground in the Amazon basin of South America. The red iris that bestows the Red-eyed Vireo its name doesn’t develop until the end of the bird’s first winter. As adults their eyes can range from a dull brick red to bright crimson.

🪶 Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

All banding is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

10/01/2025

Amazing story of an amazing bird. Check out this banded bird recovery.

08/30/2025

Check out this map and info about migratory stopover spots in Florida from my Alma mater, Purdue University. I am curious what data they used to make the map as it shows Pinellas county as not a hotspot.

If you didn't know already, Northeast Florida is a stopover hotspot!

This map from Purdue University and partners' AeroEco Lab shows the most important stopover hotspots in Florida for spring and fall migration. Those red areas are above the 90th percentile of predicted stopover density—places where migrants have historically concentrated to rest and refuel.

All the more reason to do everything we can to provide safe passage for migrating birds, including:
- Supplying food, water, and cover at your home or business landscape to allow migrating birds to safely rest and refuel. Bird feeders are great but planting native plants is an even better way to help birds along their way!
- Turning off all non-essential lights at your home or business between 11 pm and 6 am to help migrating birds (most of whom migrate at night) avoid being attracted to dangerous, brightly lit areas.
- Making windows safe for birds by applying painted designs, decals, screens, hanging cords, or a commercially-available product to the OUTSIDE of your windows. To be effective, designs or decals should leave no more then 2" of open space on the window. The main goal is to break up the reflections and make windows visible to birds. Here are some great ideas for making your windows bird-safe: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/
- Support efforts to conserve critical habitat so migrating birds will continue to be able to find areas to rest and refuel. Organizations like North Florida Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy in Florida (facebook.com/NatureConservancyFL) are actively working to preserve these important lands.

About the map: we found it on the super cool Purdue AeroEco Lab Migration Forecast & Seasonal Timing site for Florida: https://aeroecolab.com/florida

04/14/2025

Yesterday’s event at Hammock Park was a great success! Thank you to everyone who came out to support us and to those who happened to be exploring the park and stayed to learn more about these wonderful birds. Nice weather brought us a wonderful variety of resident and migratory species that we were so excited to share with you all. We hope to see you all again in the fall!

Special thanks to from the Cape Florida Banding Station for joining us and sharing her avian expertise!

All banding is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

04/11/2025

Come join us Sunday morning in Hammock Park, Dunedin, for our bi-annual bird banding demonstration. We will be there from 8 am - noon. Just follow the signs from the parking lot at the north end of San Mateo Drive.

04/04/2025

As another banding day approaches, we reflect on some of the great birds we had at the station last weekend. Migration is starting to pick up and we had the opportunity to band a variety of migrant and resident species, including a few recaptures. Recaptures refers to birds that have been re-captured after being banded and released from a previous season. This allows us to gather valuable data on a bird’s lifespan and migratory patterns.

All banding is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

03/15/2025

Who knew that leprechauns like to Bird? This is Seamus who is out looking for a little bit of feathered “gold” today! He did find a Wilson’s warbler and was hoping to see either hooded warblers or prothonotary warblers but no luck. Watch out for those leprechauns while you’re out birding this weekend 🙂

Photo Credit to Jenn Zelik and Jim McGinity

☘️

03/09/2025

We’re back for another season at the Caldesi Island Banding Station!

Last years hurricanes did some damage, but we were fortunate enough to gain access to the island to do some pre-season preparations. Before the banding season begins our team set out to clear net lanes, set up poles, and replace flags; this ensures that our first day of banding will go off without a hitch.

Although the island is currently closed to the public for repairs, its ecosystem is thriving. We were greeted with the songs of Prairie Warblers upon our arrival. As we departed, we witnessed an Osprey enjoying a mid-day snack and Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins swimming near the marina. All in all it was a good first day back and we’re excited to see what this spring will bring us!