By: Kara Tyler-Julian
If you were around South Florida in 2007 and were into birding, a sighting of the Everglade snail kite would have been at the top of your checklist. I was a young college kid at the time, dabbling in the birding world along with a group of wildlife enthusiasts. We made many trips to the Everglades and Big Cypress National Park hoping to catch of a glimpse of these and other uncommon birds. At that time in 2007, the population of the Everglade snail kite had fallen to less than 800 birds so a sighting of this species would have been rare indeed, and something to celebrate This species, scientific name of Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus, has been federally listed as endangered since 1967.
The population decline of this unique raptor was due to several possible causes, but the main cause was believed to be loss and degradation of their natural habitat, wetland areas. Specifically, drainage of the Everglades was believed to be a major cause of their decline. In 2004, the arrival and rapid spread of an exotic apple snail species was feared by biologists to be another threat to the survival of the snail kite. The Everglade snail kite is unique for its specialized diet, it evolved to feed only on native Florida apple snails thanks to a specialized beak, curved at just the right shape and angle to remove the native snails from their shells. Initially, biologists feared that the exotic species of apple snail would be too large for the snail kites to effectively remove and consume, and as the invasive species spread and outcompeted the native snail species, biologists became very concerned for the survival of the snail kite.
However, something completely unexpected happened. The Everglade snail kite population began to increase as the exotic snails increased and spread, instead of declining further. The populations seem to be evolving, with snail kites beginning to have longer beaks which enable them to effectively handle the exotic snail species. As of 2022, the snail kite population had rebounded to more than 3,000 birds. I have seen the growth of their population firsthand. In 2007, during our many outings, we never achieved a sighting of a snail kite. Two years later in 2009 I caught a few unplanned sightings of them along canals in Lehigh Acres where they hunted their snail prey. Then in 2013-2015 while working on farms all around southwest Florida, I regularly spotted the birds hunting along the irrigation canals and nesting in pockets of wetlands around the farms. Now in 2024 my personal observations of these unique predators have become even more frequent and expanded from the canals and filter marshes of Lehigh to regular sightings of them hunting the ditches along state road 82 and this summer they have been regulars along Daniels Parkway.
If you would like to catch a sighting of these interesting predators, keep an eye out for them around shallow bodies of water that contain the snails. Some of the best places to see them are ditches, canals, and filter marshes. Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres is a great place to visit for an almost guaranteed sighting of the kites. Look for a medium-sized raptor gracefully floating in the air low over the water searching for snails, or perched on vegetation near the water watching for their prey. Their nests will be found in trees in the middle of wetlands, where they are protected from predators. The females and juveniles have mottled brown and buff coloration whereas the males are a slate gray. Both males and females have a noticeable white band at the base of the tail that is a striking identification characteristic.
To support the continued growth of their population, we must support efforts to preserve and restore wetland areas while protecting the water quality in wetlands. With any luck, the combination of those efforts with the snail kite’s consumption of the invasive apple snail might start to assist in the recovery of the populations of our native apple snails as well.
