Florida's Special Birds

Many people come to Florida to visit Walt Disney World or Universal Studios, but birders come to the state to see the unique avifauna that inhabits the peninsula and the keys. Florida's subtropical location makes it a prime spot to see a number of Caribbean species not usually found elsewhere in the United States. One bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay, is found nowhere else in the world. Included in this list are many of those specialty birds that nest or winter in Florida (some are also found in other states), as well as a few regularly occurring rarities from the Bahamas and/or Cuba. Many birders visiting Florida also seek out a number of non-native exotic species (such as parrots) found mostly in the cities, but I'm only including native species in this list. Birds with unique Florida subspecies (e.g., Red-shouldered Hawk, Grasshopper Sparrow) are also included in this list.