Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society

05/06/2026

🚨 Urgent Call for New Leaders 🚨
After 59 years of protecting birds, wildlife, and habitats here in Central Florida, the Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society is at risk of closing. Without new board members, we won’t be able to continue field trips, community programs, and conservation work.
👉 We need passionate people (no experience required!) who love nature and want to make a difference. Training and support are available.
If you’ve ever thought about getting involved, now is the time. Your leadership could keep our chapter alive.
📩 Email us at [email protected]
-Note: We did put out this message last summer but didn't have the ability to get back to folks. Please reach out if you want to get involved.

04/19/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to our event today, and a big thank you to Dr. Ken Meyer of Avian Research and Conservation Institute - www.arcinst.org for sharing his expertise!

Here’s what we learned about Swallow-tailed Kites:

These birds do almost everything on the wing, typically only landing to roost, nest, or mate.

They’re highly social and gather in communal roosts. Interestingly, they have been seen changing roost locations in the middle of the night to avoid predators like owls.

Their diet is incredibly varied. They eat things like insects, reptiles, amphibians, and more. They will even grab entire wasp nests! They carefully pick out each larva and will even incorporate the wasp nest in their own nest construction.

They are very particular about nesting location. They choose tall pine trees that rise above the canopy, ideally with a flatter top to support a nest placed right in the center. While they nest in pines, they build using cypress twigs, lichens, and hanging mosses.

They like to use commercial timber lands as nesting sites.

Young Swallow-tailed Kites have rusty colored heads that gradually fade to white. Unlike most birds, this color change happens without molting. It’s the same feathers changing over time.

Each year, they migrate about 5,000 miles to South America. During this journey, they can fly for up to four days and nights nonstop over open ocean before needing fresh water.

And some good news: Swallow-tailed Kite populations are currently increasing!

Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll share what we learned about the Southeastern American Kestrel.

04/03/2026

01/09/2026

We know from the Deepwater Horizon disaster that a healthy Gulf is essential for a healthy Florida—environmentally and economically. A federal proposal released in November would open a portion of the Eastern Gulf to drilling lease sales, and Florida's congressional delegation is uniting against this threat. We need your voice to protect our wildlife, beaches, military, and economy.

https://act.audubon.org/a/gulf2025

10/05/2025

The Bald Eagle nesting season officially started October 1st! 🦅

Maintaining a healthy population of Bald Eagles in Florida.

08/26/2025

🚨 Urgent Call for New Leaders 🚨

After 59 years of protecting birds, wildlife, and habitats here in Central Florida, the Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society is at risk of closing. Without new board members, we won’t be able to continue field trips, community programs, and conservation work.

👉 We need passionate people (no experience required!) who love nature and want to make a difference. Training and support are available.

If you’ve ever thought about getting involved, now is the time. Your leadership could keep our chapter alive.

📩 Email us at [email protected]

06/27/2025

New I-4 wildlife crossings!

Soon, wild animals that find their path blocked by the state’s busiest interstate will have a new way to get across.

05/15/2025

🚨 URGENT: Protect Guana River WMA! 🚨

The state just added a last-minute agenda item to trade away part of Guana River Wildlife Management Area—opening the door to harmful development and setting a dangerous precedent for our public lands.

Help stop this NOW! 🛑 Sign the petition and tell the Acquisition and Restoration Council to reject this land swap before it’s too late!

👉 https://act.audubon.org/a/arclandswap

Tonight, the State posted a meeting agenda with an alarming proposal: To trade a portion of vulnerable and valuable Guana River Wildlife Management Area in St. Johns County to a private entity—likely for development.

We need your voice to stop both this swap and this dangerous precedent.

Audubon and others were surprised to see the Department of Environmental Protection issue a public notice Wednesday morning calling an unscheduled meeting of the state Acquisition and Restoration Council for next Wednesday, May 21.

After close of business, the meeting’s agenda link quietly went live on the website, revealing an unremarkable agenda with the exception of one item, proposing to swap a choice piece of state-owned real estate in the heart of St. Johns County’s Guana River Wildlife Management Area for a constellation of parcels across the state. While the proposed swap would provide five new acres for every one currently owned, the proposal is light on details.

Development Threatens

The agenda item says the wetlands of the existing parcel will be “avoided”—meaning the applicant intends to develop the uplands into some other land use. This could mean development that could severely impact the conservation area and surrounding wetlands, including a golf course or housing. Such a proposal would bulldoze habitat Florida has invested significant taxpayer dollars in restoring over the last 30 years, home to gopher tortoises and a popular recreational destination for hunters and hikers.

Moreover, the change in land use would likely impede waterfowl hunting on Guana Lake and would make the application of prescribed fire to adjacent Guana Wildlife Management Area, Guana State Park, and Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve far more difficult. Stormwater runoff from a new development would further harm the water quality of Guana Lake, a designated Outstanding Florida Waterway.

Audubon Stands Against this Land Swap

Even without all these shortcomings, the fundamental issue remains: Florida’s conservation lands are not held in trust for the public simply until a developer wants them. There is no way this parcel can meet the standard of "no longer needed for conservation purposes" needed to dispose of conservation lands. Join Audubon in calling on ARC to reject this item outright.

https://act.audubon.org/a/arclandswap

05/11/2025

Happy Mother's Day! We appreciate the hard work you all do! 🩷

***********************************************************
Photo by: Robin Ulery
Location: Johns Lake, Winter Garden, Florida
Camera: Sony A9 with Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens; 1/800 second at f 6.3; ISO 1600

04/21/2025

📢 Action Alert: Have you seen a banded Roseate Spoonbill? If so, please report it! 📸🐦🔎📲
https://www.audubon.org/florida/press-room/audubon-calls-bird-enthusiasts-across-state-search-and-report-banded-roseate

Audubon’s Everglades Science Center team is calling on bird enthusiasts across the state to search for Roseate Spoonbills and report banded birds. Each band resight will win a special sticker and contribute to critical population data for this iconic Florida species.

https://www.audubon.org/florida/press-room/audubon-calls-bird-enthusiasts-across-state-search-and-report-banded-roseate