Everglades-Shark Valley-2005 - #

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Yellow-crowned night-heron Nyctanassa violacea

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Identification Tips:
Length: 21 inches Wingspan: 44 inches
Sexes similar
Fairly small, long-legged, short-necked heron
Tucks neck in close to body in flight and often at rest, rarely extending it
Black bill
Leg color varies with age, as with Black Crowns
Long legs, with feet and part of legs extending beyond tail in flight
Adult:

Red eyes
Blue-gray neck, chest, back and belly
Dark centers to back feathers
Pale yellowish forehead and buffy-white crown
Black face and chin with broad white auricular stripe
Juvenile:

Eyes yellowish to amber
Head, neck, chest and belly dark gray-brown streaked finely with buff and white
Darker cap
Wings and back darker brown with small white spots at the tips of the feathers
Greater secondary coverts with crisp white edgings and small spots at tips
Immature:

Gradually acquires adult plumage over 2 years, losing spotting and streaking and gradually acquiring face and body plumage of adult

Common Name: American Alligator
Scientific Name: Alligator Mississippians

COMMON NAMES: American alligator, Mississippi alligator, Pike-headed alligator, "gator"
NAME ETYMOLOGY: Alligator is derived from the Spanish el lagarto which means "the lizard"

Great Blue Heron shot at Shark Valley January of 2005

Great blue heron Ardea herodias

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Identification Tips:
Length: 38 inches Wingspan: 70 inches
Sexes similar
Huge long-legged long-necked wader
Usually holds neck in an "S" curve at rest and in flight
Long, thick, yellow bill
Adult:

White crown and face
Black plume extending from above and behind eye to beyond back of head
Brownish-buff neck with black-bordered white stripe down center of foreneck
Blue-gray back, wings and belly
Black shoulder
Shaggy neck and back plumes in alternate plumage
Immature:

Black cap
Brownish-gray back and upperwings
Lacks shaggy neck and back plumes
Lacks black plume extending from behind eye

Green heron Butorides virescens

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Identification Tips:
Length: 14 inches Wingspan: 25 inches
Sexes similar
Small, short-legged and short-necked heron
Yellow legs
Tucks neck in close to body in flight and often at rest, rarely extending it
Black cap
Blue-gray back and wings
Adult:

Chestnut neck
White chin
White stripe down center of neck
Immature:

Reddish-brown and white streaks on head and neck
Extensive white spots on wing coverts

Great Egret in flight- 1/1000 sec, f 7, ISO = 800; Canon 70-200mm IS lens.

Great egret (Ardea alba)

Identification Tips: Length: 32 inches Wingspan: 55 inches
Sexes similar
Large long-legged long-necked wading bird
Usually holds neck in an "S" curve in flight
Long, thick yellow bill
Black legs and feet
Entirely white plumage
Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult
Adult alternate: Shaggy neck and back plumes

Similar species: Cattle Egret much smaller with a shorter, stubbier bill and pale legs. Snowy Egret is smaller and has black bill and yellow feet. Immature Little blue Heron is smaller and has a pale bill with a black tip, and green legs. Reddish Egrets (white morph) have pale bills with black tips and blue-gray legs. The "Great White" Heron of southern Florida has yellow legs.

Yellow-crowned night-heron Nyctanassa violacea

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Identification Tips:
Length: 21 inches Wingspan: 44 inches
Sexes similar
Fairly small, long-legged, short-necked heron
Tucks neck in close to body in flight and often at rest, rarely extending it
Black bill
Leg color varies with age, as with Black Crowns
Long legs, with feet and part of legs extending beyond tail in flight
Adult:

Red eyes
Blue-gray neck, chest, back and belly
Dark centers to back feathers
Pale yellowish forehead and buffy-white crown
Black face and chin with broad white auricular stripe
Juvenile:

Eyes yellowish to amber
Head, neck, chest and belly dark gray-brown streaked finely with buff and white
Darker cap
Wings and back darker brown with small white spots at the tips of the feathers
Greater secondary coverts with crisp white edgings and small spots at tips
Immature:

Gradually acquires adult plumage over 2 years, losing spotting and streaking and gradually acquiring face and body plumage of adult