Swamp Cabbage Patch Kids

If you’ve ever seen a palm fly by at 60 MPH you were either in a hurricane or watching palms being transported on a flatbed truck. There are over 2500 palm species in the world and many have shallow root systems that allow them to bend in the wind but can be plucked from the ground and relocated by landscapers.

A safer and more natural way to discover the beauty and diversity of palms is to take drive through any neighborhood in south Florida. Over twenty-five species are used as ornamentals but only ten are actually native.

The Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto) was voted Florida’s state tree in 1953 after what I can only imagine was a contentious and bitter dispute between the two state branches of congress. The House selected the regal Royal Palm (Roystonea regia) in 1949 but when the Senate passed on the idea, it wasn’t until four years later that the ubiquitous and iconic Sabal Palm with its fan-shaped fronds became the official state tree.

Palms are unique in that they don’t have bark, cambium or heartwood like most trees. Instead they have an inner core protected by an outer sheath and both sections have living tissue. Most palms grow from a terminal bud out of the top of the tree with some exceptions that branch, including the Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens).

Growing up in Venice, FL my family would often camp along the Myakka River. During nature walks, my dad would find a young Sabal Palm, aka Cabbage Palm. He would cut the new growth which resembled cabbage and my sisters and I would eat it, and - surprisingly enjoyed it. We call this treat Swamp Cabbage down here. You’ve probably eaten it too. They sell it in stores and serve it in restaurants with the entirely more delectable name of Heart-of-Palm.

Sabal Palms are considered one of the hardiest palms and can be found throughout the southeastern United States. In south Florida they’re found in lawns, parking lots, oak forests, cypress swamps, coastal areas and occasionally in the middle of your living room after a hurricane. 

Flying With Scissors The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

There’s a great book called “100 Birds and How They Got Their Names.” I don’t need it today. Although I’ve never seen the bird perched before me, I know exactly what it is and why it’s called a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus).

At the end of a long day touring the Western Everglades, I’m driving a van of tourists back to Fort Myers. My tour narration has ended and most are asleep until I shout “Scissor-tailed Flycatcher!”, make an expert U-turn on a desolate road and park under the telephone wire the bird is perched upon. I’m excited. The guests are excited, but they’re not sure why yet. The salmon-bellied bird with a white-head and long tail feathers looks down at us with ambivalence. He’s perched on a wire just like they are known to do.

Scissor-tails spend most of their year in Texas, Oklahoma (where they’re the state bird) and other plain states, but during the summer most migrate south to Panama. A few end up in Florida and about one hundred were spotted in 2010.

The scissor-shaped tail gives them the ability to make acrobatic maneuvers in flight as they seek out airborne insects. They will go to the ground for grasshoppers and other terrestrial arthropods but this one does an air show for us, grabs a meal and perches on the next wire.

During courtship they can do reverse summersaults and other enticing displays for the female’s approval. Long ago the extended tail feathers may have helped birds of the same species recognize their own, but these days the scissor-shape is a sign of genetic fitness and thus used for mate selection.

One of the tourists is snapping picture after picture and turns to me and says “If the guide is taking pictures, I better take pictures too!”

And she should. It’s an amazing bird.

Living Without Aigrettes

The screaming never stops on the bird rookery. Babies want food. Mates need help. Competitors jockey for better territories and struggle to secure mates. It's so noisy here on this island in the middle of the Caloosahatchee I almost forget the foul smell of fish and bird poop. During the breeding season, many birds develop special plumes or bright colorations to attract a mate (the teal blue eye of the Anhinga, the crimson legs of the White Ibis). The Great Egret has spectacular tail feathers called aigrettes that were once prized by plumage hunters. They appear wispy and delicate and have a yellowed - burnt marshmallow appearance towards there tips. In the late 19th and early part of the 20th century, plumage hunters sought out rookeries where they would slaughter nesting birds and take their feathers. Chicks were left to starve. Eggs left unincubated never hatched. The feathers were used for decoration and specifically for women's hats that were all the rage at the time. In 1908 - an ounce of plumes was worth more than an ounce of gold. Great Blue Herons, Flamingos, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks, Egrets and other bird populations were severely impacted by this less than noble trade.When the plume rage was exposed as murderous fashion, the rage of the nation led to federal legislation banning the sale of plumes. Populations have been slow to rebound over the many decades that have passed and some say for every Great Egret you see today - you might have seen 10 a century ago. Here at the rookery, Wood Stork nests far outnumber Great Egret nests. Nevertheless, courtship continues as Egrets flash their aigrettes like a Peacock (since the courtship period is over - I don't have a shot of this). Mates are wooed. Eggs are laid. Chicks are born. Here -one of several chicks pesters an adult for partially digested fish.
We can be thankfull in large part to the Audubon Society who led the way in protecting South Florida's birds well over 100 years ago by introducing protective legislation, developing educational programs and putting boots on the ground to physically protect the birds - assuring that we wouldn't have to live without aigrettes.