Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge

06/18/2026

June is National Pollinator Month, so we wanted to shine a spotlight on the fascinating monarch butterfly! 🦋

Monarch butterflies are known for their iconic orange and black markings, but they are equally impressive for their ability to travel up to 3,000 miles between their summer breeding grounds and overwintering sites. Some monarch populations, however, are non-migratory and breed year-round in parts of central and south Florida, the Gulf Coast, and California.

To further add to their fascinating traits, monarchs start life as eggs laid on milkweed plants, which hatch after two to five days. The newly emerged caterpillars often consume their eggshell before moving on to an exclusive diet of milkweed. Over the next two weeks, monarch caterpillars progress through five instars (growth stages between molts) as they grow.

Once fully grown, the caterpillar spins a silk pad and hangs upside down in a "J" shape by its hind prolegs. Shedding its skin one final time, it forms a chrysalis. About one to two weeks later, an adult butterfly emerges, expands its wings, and the life cycle begins all over again!

Happy 🦋

Photos by Mark Danaher/USFWS

06/09/2026

It's , time to shell-ebrate! 🐢

Here are some turt-ally rad facts in honor of these cold-blooded reptiles:

1️⃣ Turtles have been around since the days of the dinosaurs, with fossils dating back more than 220 million years.

2️⃣ The United States is a biodiversity hotspot for turtles, being home to more terrestrial and freshwater turtle species than any other country.

3️⃣ There is only one turtle species in the world known to spend its entire life in coastal, brackish marshlands: the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).

Florida is home to three diamondback terrapin subspecies found nowhere else on Earth: the Florida east coast terrapin, mangrove diamondback terrapin, and ornate diamondback terrapin.

These opportunistic feeders also play an important role in marsh ecosystems by consuming marsh periwinkle snails (Littoraria irrorata), which can graze vegetation down to mud and make marshlands less effective at protecting coastal communities during storms.

Major threats to diamondback terrapins include habitat loss, road mortality, harvesting for the pet trade, and accidental capture in crab traps. To help address population declines, the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute implemented regulations that prohibit the sale of terrapins and require permits for their possession. Recreational crab traps are also required to include a bycatch reduction device that helps prevent terrapins from entering.

You can help ensure these ancient reptiles remain part of Florida's coastal marshes for generations to come by slowing down on coastal roads, leaving wild turtles in the wild, and using crab traps equipped with terrapin excluder devices.

Take some time to bask in the spirit of wild turtles this week!



Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS

06/06/2026

June 6 brings two great opportunities to celebrate the outdoors: National Black Bear Day and National Trails Day!

The Florida black bear is the only bear species found in Florida and the state's largest land mammal. While black bears are among the refuge's most iconic residents, they're just one of many species that depend on the pine flatwoods, hardwood hammocks, forested wetlands, and prairies found within the refuge including Florida panthers, bobcats, white-tailed deer, river otters, wading birds, and more.

Visitors can experience some of these habitats firsthand by exploring the wheelchair-accessible Leslie M. Duncan Memorial Trail (0.3 miles) and the Panther Trail (1.3 miles). The refuge was established in 1989 to help conserve the Florida panther and its habitat, and the Leslie M. Duncan Memorial Trail opened on June 6, 2005, becoming the refuge’s first public access point.

Whether you're celebrating black bears, trails, or just looking for a reason to get outside, today is a great opportunity to explore the habitats that support wildlife across southwest Florida.

🐻 🥾

For more information on the trails at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, visit https://www.fws.gov/refuge/florida-panther/visit-us/trails

05/30/2026

Throughout the coastal wetlands of the southeastern United States, the best neighborhood watch is a large reptile with up to 80 cone-shaped teeth and a bite force of approximately 2,000 psi (pounds per square inch): the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).

American alligators will hang out under the nests of spoonbills, egrets, ibises, and wood storks in the hopes of catching a fallen chick, and in return, these wading birds receive protection from predators such as raccoons and opossums.

As many colonial birds typically produce one or two more chicks than they can provide for, nesting season can result in well-fed alligators. Researchers have found that not only can breeding female alligators in the Everglades be supported by dropped chicks alone during the dry season, but that alligators who hang around these bird nests are actually healthier than those who do not.

As alligator breeding season comes after bird breeding season, this health benefit means that the females are stronger and healthier, and therefore have a higher chance of producing more hatchlings.

This type of relationship is called ecological facilitation, where at least one species in the relationship benefits and neither are caused harm. These types of relationships between species are vital for ecosystem health, helping to maintain biodiversity and community structure. 🐊

Photo by Sydney Hartley/USFWS

05/22/2026

If you’ve driven down any road in the southeastern U.S. over the past couple months, there’s a strong chance you’ve witnessed some lovebug action. Lovebugs, more accurately called march flies (Plecia nearctica), are famous for being found attached to their mates.

Adults live for less than one week, just long enough to mate, feed, and lay eggs. For most of the year, however, lovebugs remain in their larval stage — around 120 days in summer and up to 240 days in winter — before emerging in large numbers from April to May and again from August to September.

Females are attracted to compounds found in vehicle exhaust, which is why lovebugs are often seen gathering along highways. And if you’ve ever driven through a swarm of lovebugs, it’s a good idea to wash your car soon after as their remains can damage paint if left on too long, especially in the heat.

But they’re not all bad. During their larval stage, lovebugs feed on dead and decaying vegetation, helping recycle organic matter back into the soil and supporting healthy ecosystems — even if they do leave your paint job a little worse for wear.

Video description: Pairs of lovebugs on a native rosy camphorweed (Pluchea baccharis).

05/15/2026

Endangered Species Day is a chance to recognize imperiled wildlife, including species close to home such as the Florida panther.

The Florida panther once ranged throughout much of the southeastern United States. Today, this species occupies less than 5% of its historic range, mainly occurring in South Florida. Habitat loss, hunting, and vehicle collisions contributed to a significant population decline. By the early 1990s, only an estimated 20 to 30 Florida panthers remained in the wild.

Conservation efforts including habitat protection, wildlife crossings, and genetic restoration, have contributed to population recovery. Current estimates indicate that 123 to 230 adult Florida panthers exist today.

This video compilation features trail camera footage of Broketail, a female Florida panther identified by the distinctive kink in her tail. She has been an icon for Florida panther conservation efforts, teaching her kittens to use wildlife crossings, a key factor in strengthening the Florida panther population.

Driving carefully in panther habitat, supporting land conservation, securing livestock and pets, and reporting any panther sightings to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are all ways to contribute to Florida panther conservation efforts.

Report Florida panther sightings at https://app.myfwc.com/hsc/panthersightings/



Video footage from Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge trail cameras, Panther Posse, and the FStop Foundation

Video description: Trail camera footage collected over several years showing Broketail, a female Florida panther with a bent tail, moving through her South Florida habitat.

05/09/2026

On World Migratory Bird Day, we’re curious:

How many birds do you think migrate through Florida on a single night during peak migration season? Hundreds? Thousands?

Nope, try MILLIONS.

Each spring and fall, millions of birds move through Florida as they travel between wintering areas and breeding grounds. Many migrate at night, using celestial cues, Earth’s magnetic field, weather conditions, instinct, and experience to help guide their journeys.

For example, some Belted kingfishers remain in parts of their range year-round while others migrate south after breeding as far north as Alaska and Canada. In South Florida, they can often be found near freshwater and saltwater wetlands, lakes, rivers, and shorelines.

American white pelicans spend much of the winter along coastal waters, bays, and estuaries. During breeding season, they nest primarily on isolated islands in shallow freshwater wetlands and lakes farther inland.

Rufa red knots are among the world’s great long-distance migrants. Some travel more than 9,300 miles from South America to Arctic breeding grounds, relying on coastal stopover sites to rest and refuel along the way.

As neotropical migrants, swallow-tailed kites spend the nonbreeding season in South America before returning to Florida each spring to nest and raise their young.

To these remarkable migrants and all others connected to Florida’s skies, Happy World Migratory Bird Day!

🐦

Belted kingfisher photo by Mark Danaher/USFWS
American white pelican photo by Ding Darling Wildlife Society/USFWS
Rufa red knot photo by Gregory Breese/USFWS
Swallow-tailed kites photo by Larry Richardson/USFWS

05/05/2026

For those of you that have been following the journey of “Cinco”, the swallow-tailed kite who received a transmitter at the refuge back in 2023 thanks to Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge and the Avian Research and Conservation Institute - www.arcinst.org, we have some exciting news!

Cinco pinged in yesterday afternoon about 25 miles from the refuge, meaning she likely made it to her nesting grounds just in time for Cinco de Mayo! The timing also coincides with the birthday of the refuge's Supervisory Wildlife Biologist Mark Danaher, who helped attach her transmitter in 2023.

It’s almost as if she knew…

Swallow-tailed kites are long-distance migrants traveling thousands of miles between the southeastern United States and South America each year. This species relies on wind and rising air currents to travel long distances while rarely flapping their wings. Their deeply forked tails help them maneuver with incredible precision, but their dependence on wind also means that migration, especially over open water, is strongly impacted by weather.

Typically, swallow-tailed kites return to the United States in mid-February to March and then head back to South America around August. Cinco's 2023 and 2024 migrations appeared to be fairly smooth, but 2025 and 2026 were anything but.

In March 2025, Cinco began her northward migration with a series of challenging movements across the Caribbean. After traveling through Mexico and Cuba, she was repeatedly displaced by multiple frontal systems and strong winds that carried her into the Atlantic. She eventually reached South Carolina, where she was likely recovering before reorienting south and returning to her nesting territory at the refuge later that month. She then completed her southbound migration to her wintering grounds in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

This year Cinco was presented with yet another difficult journey.

On March 19th, 2026, Cinco pinged in from just outside of Cancun, a common departure point for swallow-tailed kites heading toward Florida after stopping in Cuba. By a turn of events, however, Cinco either got blown south or intentionally flew to remote areas of Belize. As the transmitters rely on cell service, no data came through for several weeks.

After making her way back north, Cinco took off from Cancun on April 10th and was impacted by low-pressure winds once again. This shifted her flight to Houston, Texas where she pinged from a floodplain on April 12th.

And on May 4th, she was finally just 25 miles from her nesting grounds at the refuge!

Cinco’s journey is an incredible example of the endurance and extraordinary homing ability of these migratory birds! These transmitters help researchers better understand migration routes, stopover sites, wintering grounds, and how swallow-tailed kites navigate an ever-changing landscape.

Welcome back Cinco! 🤍🩶 Here's to hoping for another successful nesting season before she makes her long journey back to Brazil.

To learn more about tracking swallow-tailed kites, visit the Avian Research and Conservation Institute's website: https://www.arcinst.org/

Photos by Mark Danaher/USFWS

05/01/2026

Welcome to sea turtle nesting season, where there’s no place like magnetic home. 🐢✨

Each year, from May through October, several sea turtle species including loggerheads (Caretta caretta), greens (Chelonia mydas), and leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) return to Florida’s beaches to nest after mating in nearby coastal waters.

Through a behavior pattern called natal homing, female sea turtles often return to the same beaches where they hatched decades earlier. This remarkable journey only becomes possible for those that reach adulthood, a significant milestone given that only a small fraction survives the many natural and human-made threats hatchlings face. Those that survive use Earth’s magnetic field to sense their geographic position and navigate back to their natal beach, where females come ashore in search of a quiet, safe place to lay around 80 to 120 eggs per clutch.

After about two months of incubation, hatchlings emerge from the sand and instinctively crawl toward the brightest light, which on a natural beach, would be the open horizon. During this journey, scientists theorize chemical imprinting helps hatchlings return to that same beach once they reach sexual maturity 10 to 50 years later, depending on the species.

With Florida hosting nearly 170,000 sea turtle nests in 2025, small actions such as filling holes in the sand, knocking down sandcastles, removing beach furniture, and keeping coastal lights low or off can help keep beaches safer for a nesting female and her hatchlings.

If you encounter a stranded, injured, dead, or harassed sea turtle, a disoriented hatchling, or anyone disturbing a sea turtle or nest, report it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922), or dial *FWC from your cell phone.



Photo by Mark Sullivan/NOAA

04/28/2026