South Florida Tour, January 5-11, 2026

In early January 2026 I led a birding trip to south Florida for Ventures Birding Tours.  Along with 3 customers, we made multiple stops from Lake Okeechobee to the Keys.  The trip focused on south FL year-round specialties typically seen in few (if any) other places in the US, many of which are introduced but still “countable” per eBird rules.  We also pursued several rarities seldom seen in the area. 

Several of these targets were also potential lifers or state birds for me.  I had five potential life birds (all countable by eBird’s rules): Red Junglefowl, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, White-eyed and Blue-headed Parakeets, and Yellow-headed Caracara.  I hoped for 4, betting that my third try for the Caracara would be unsuccessful yet again.  My additional potential FL state birds included: Black-headed Gull, Groove-billed Ani, Bell’s Vireo, and Scaly-breasted Munia.  I hoped for maybe 2 of these.

A summary of the highlights for each of our stops is provided below, along with more details on my new life and state birds.  The eBird Trip Report for the tour can be found here -  ebird.org/tripreport/461125  

January 5

Oleta River State Park -

The key target here was the long-staying, but-very-difficult-to-find, Yellow-headed Caracara.  This bird was first spotted in the area in October 2022, and has been seen very sporadically ever since.  The apparent most likely routine for the Caracara is that it spends its days on the campus of Florida International University, flies east to Oleta River State Park in the evening to roost for the night, then flies at dawn east to Haulover Park, eventually making it back to FIU during the day.  The bird likes to feed from dumpsters, eats scraps left by picnickers, and has been seen fighting with Vultures over dead fish.  A real scavenger in a suburban setting.  

I’ve talked to birders who have tried for the bird more than a dozen times with no success.  In January 2025 I tried for it one evening at Oleta, and the next morning at Haulover without finding it.  So despite understanding its apparent routine, the Caracara is still very difficult to locate.

And then a week after my 2025 trip a new strategy came to light - a birder successfully attracted the Caracara using a rotisserie chicken placed in a BBQ grill at Oleta.  That same strategy was mentioned again just before the 2026 trip, though I’m not sure it was successful.  So rather than just hoping to run into the bird, I decided to give the rotisserie chicken ploy a try.  Our first stop of the afternoon was at a grocery store to purchase a rotisserie chicken.  Though I tried to stay optimistic, I put our chances of finding the bird at 10% at best.

We arrived at Oleta River SP around 4 PM and headed to the Panther Pavilion where the Caracara is most often seen.  By 4:30 we had the chicken out of its packaging and laid on the nearby grill.  We sat down at a nearby table and began our wait for the bait to work.  Within minutes we had Fish Crows and Turkey Vultures eating at the carcass.  That was a promising start. 

Then around 5 we got a brief glimpse of a raptor fly in low from the west and land in a tree above the grill.  I quickly put it in my binoculars and said – “Oh my God, that’s the bird!”  The Caracara dropped to the ground providing great views.

Then it flew to another tree revealing its striking wing pattern with white windows at the base of the primaries.  Eventually it made its way to the grill, pulled a big chunk of chicken off, and took it up into a tree, where it defended the meat from a Vulture.

What an experience!  The best bird of the trip was one of the first!  Yellow-headed Caracara was US Life Bird #784 and FL state bird #345.

January 6

Hotel Parking lot – While packing up the car we had flyover Peregrine and Merlin, and several flocks of Parakeet, sp.  A good start…

Vista Park Beach – An unsuccessful try for Blue-headed Parakeets - looks like we were too late for birds in an overnight roost.

Gulfstream Park –

White-eyed Parakeets have been reported regularly at this park, typically in a flock flying in at 8:30 or later, and often found feeding on sea grapes.  So the strategy was to look for our target in the sea grape trees.  Unfortunately, when we arrived we quickly realized that sea grapes were the principal vegetation type throughout the park.  And the park was full of people – this wasn’t going to be easy.  We walked around a bit watching and listening for Parakeets but to no avail.  Finally, I noticed some movement in one of the trees and spotted a silhouette of a Parakeet.  We couldn’t see any field marks on this back-lit bird, so we changed our angle and eventually got to see the bird’s all green head with broad white eye-ring.  The bird flew over to another tree in much better lighting, joining 3 others, and we could definitively ID the birds as 4 White-eyed Parakeets (US Life Bird #785 and FL state bird #346).  And they were indeed eating sea grapes.  Here’s a picture of the sea grapes and the challenge seeing all-green birds in an all-green tree.

Only 2 of the birds had red at the bend of the folded wing – were these the adults, and the others were immatures? 

There were also a lot of iguanas in the park.

Ft. Lauderdale Neighborhood – Unsuccessful at another stakeout for Blue-headed Parakeets – despite 2 tries.  Unfortunately, that was our last chance for this possible lifer.  Though we did find a most cooperative Spot-breasted Oriole.

Highland Oaks Park – We heard a couple more Spot-breasted Orioles, and saw a large crocodile.

January 7

Miller Drive Roost –

This spot is notorious for Psittacids, especially near dawn.  And it did not disappoint.  Just after we arrived we spotted 5 Orange-winged Amazons with 1 (uncountable) Lilac-crowned Amazon perched overhead. 

We also had 18 Yellow-chevroned Parakeets in 2 small flyover flocks and 25 flyover Red-masked Parakeets.  And the highlight was a brief view of 3 flyover Chestnut-fronted Macaws (US Life Bird #786 and FL state bird #347).  Luckily, we would get better views of this species later in the trip.

Ride to/from Lake Okeechobee – While driving to and from Lake Okeechobee we kept our eyes open for raptors and found 1 Crested Caracara perched on a wooden power pole, and 2 Snail Kites foraging low over the adjacent wetlands.

Paul Rardin Park – This small park is well-known for wintering flycatchers, and we were able to find the continuing male Vermillion Flycatcher and Tropical Kingbird, and found a likely Least Flycatcher.  Though we missed stakeout Cassin’s and Western Kingbirds.  We also had nesting Great-horned Owls.

Belle Glade Marina –

The initial target for this site was Purple Swamphens.  But then a week before the trip a super rare Black-headed Gull was reported from this site.  Multiple birders tried unsuccessfully to re-find the Gull, so I took it off our target list.  That is until the day before we arrived in the area when it was reported there once again.  We arrived at the marina and ran into a local birder also looking for the Gull.  There were just a couple Ring-bills there, though he did put us on these Purple Swamphens.

We were just about to give up on the Gull when the birder was notified that it was presently being seen at Slim’s Fish Camp.  A quick search on the map app showed that Slim’s was just around the corner.  A couple minutes later we were at the boat dock at the fish camp and there was the winter-plumaged Black-headed Gull right in front of us (FL state bird #348).  We wouldn’t have found it without the assistance of that local birder.

My statebird map for Black-headed Gull is inserted below.  The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The dark blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

January 8

Coral Reef Park –

We dubbed this site “Muscovy Park” because of their high numbers at the park.  Other targets we found here were Egyptian Goose, Indian Peafowl, and Limpkin. 

But the key highlights were the Psittacids including flyover flocks of 35 Mitred Parakeets, and at least 20 White-eyed Parakeets including this photogenic pair. 

Plus we were treated by 2 cooperative Chestnut-fronted Macaws.

South Miami Roads – We found the first of many Common Mynas, which is actually quite a common bird along the roads south of Miami.

Pine Woods Park –

This small “linear” park is actually no more than the vegetation under a stretch of high tension power lines.  The park includes large patches of 8-foot-tall grasses that attract flocks of Scaly-breasted Munias.  However, I tried for the Munias twice during the 2025 trip with no luck.  Hopefully we’ll have better luck this year.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived was that much of the vegetation had been cut.  There were only a few small patches of the tall grasses.  But maybe that acted to concentrate the Munias, because we found 2 different flocks of these diminutive birds (FL statebird #349).  Here is a distant shot of a couple of Munias and their preferred grasses.

I also got this passable digi-bin photo of an adult.

Later we also had a calling Red-whiskered Bulbul, which eventually perched in the open most cooperatively.

Finally, we had 8 Monk Parakeet visiting their large communal nest.

Biltmore Hotel – This spot is well-known for its flock of Red-masked Parakeets nesting under the eaves of the hotel.  We estimated the flock included 35 birds.

Publix in Dadeland – It may be a surprise to call the urban parking lot of a Publix grocery store a hotspot, but it’s notorious for its flock of Mitred Parakeets.  We had 40 of them, including some most cooperative birds.

Miami Executive Airport – Despite lots of searching we missed Burrowing Owls which are regular at this spot, though found 3 Loggerhead Shrikes

Homestead – A flock of 15 roadside Junglefowl which are uncountable north of the Keys (per eBird), though they looked like true Junglefowl.

January 9

Larry Mafredi’s Place – It took us 2 tries to find Shiny Cowbird at the feeding station, but finally had 17 of them in view at once.  That set a new eBird high count for Shiny Cowbirds in Miami-Dade County.

We also had 6 beautiful Painted Buntings at the feeders, plus a flyover Short-tailed Hawk and a Western Kingbird.

Islamorada – Bayside Marina –

The target here was Red Junglefowl which are countable since we were on the Keys.  As soon as we got out of the car we heard a crowing rooster, aka Junglefowl.  And eventually tracked down two groups (US Life Bird #787 and FL state bird #350). 

Later we had 5 (looking much more like wild Junglefowl) including young chicks farther down the Keys.

Grassy Key – We found 5 shorebird species including 15 Short-billed Dowitchers and 2 Black-necked Stilts.

Florida Keys Country Club – A stakeout large shorebird flock included 200 Black-bellied Plovers, 50 Dowitchers, 100 Killdeer, and 3 Least and 10 Western Sandpipers, along with 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

January 10

L31W Canal –

We started our birding at dawn as we headed out on a mile and a half walk to a marsh where a Groove-billed Ani and 3 Smooth-billed Anis have been seen quite reliably throughout the winter.  Along the way we heard a rare Brown-crested Flycatcher giving its “whip” calls, and a Great Crested Flycatcher giving its “wheep” calls.  Plus, we spotted a nicely perched Tropical Kingbird. 

We eventually arrived at the Ani location and almost instantly spotted an Ani perched on the cattails in the distance.  But at that distant it was impossible to tell which species it was.  Most of the reports mentioned that the 3 Smooth-billed Anis stuck close together, and the Groove-billed would stay nearby but keep its distance.  So this one bird would likely be the Groove-billed.  Then a couple minutes later 3 other Anis came out of the reeds a short distance away and perched momentarily.  So these were likely the Smooth-billed.  The 3 birds flew closer and briefly perched nearby, appearing to have larger bills, confirming the Smooth-billed ID.  These 3 birds headed off to the south out of view.  And right on cue, the single bird followed behind them, perching quite close and allowing us to see its smaller bill assuring the Groove-billed ID.  Couldn’t quite see the grooves though.

I’ve only seen Smooth-billed Ani one other time – in the Everglades National Park in January 1982.  Back then they were rare but regular in south FL, but have gotten much rarer today.  So it was great to see them again, after a 44-year gap.  And Groove-billed Ani was #351 for my FL state bird list.

It was a long 3-mile round-trip walk but certainly worth it.

Everglades National Park - Mahogany Hammock – This was a slow stop with just 1 Black-throated Green Warbler and 1 Catbird in the Hammock, with a dark-phase Short-tailed Hawk nearby.  At least the Hammock had nice lush vegetation.

Everglades National Park – Flamingo – We were unsuccessful in our search for Flamingos in the distance.  But did have numerous water birds - Reddish Egret, Skimmers, Royal and Caspian Terns, Great White Herons, 1 “Wurdemann’s” Heron, and 2 Bald Eagles at their nest.

C111 Canal – We quickly found the stakeout female Vermillion Flycatcher, and a White-tailed Kite, but had no luck with a stakeout Bell’s Vireo.  And at dusk -had foraging Great Horned and Barn Owls flying low over the vegetation, plus at least 10 Lesser Nighthawks.

January 11

Miller Drive Roost – Went back for a second visit especially for Blue-and-yellow Macaws with no luck.  But we did have 25 Monk, 35 Red-masked, and 2 Yellow-chevroned Parakeets. 

Coral Reef Park – Soon after we arrived we had 2 Chestnut-fronted Macaws, 2 Red-masked and 40 White-eyed Parakeets.  Later we finally found our target Blue-and-yellow Macaws - the 9th Psittacid species for the trip.