On Saturday, February 21, ten birders from as far away as Michigan and New Jersey joined Luis Gonzalez and Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon’s annual Miami Exotics tour. Using a 15-passenger van to transport the group, we spent the day searching for as many of south Florida’s introduced bird species as possible. Among the seventy-four species tallied by day’s end were twenty-two different exotics!
We began the tour at Tropical Park, where we encountered our first seven exotics: Egyptian Goose, Muscovy Duck, Eurasian Collared Dove, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Orange-winged Amazon (heard only), Red-masked Parakeet and European Starling. Other birds found during our thirty minutes at this park included White-crowned Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Common Gallinule, Ring-billed Gull, Pied-billed Grebe, White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Western Cattle-Egret, Great Egret, Osprey, Belted Kingfisher, Merlin, Fish Crow, Northern Mockingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Palm Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler.
Next, we visited the Brewer Park area in South Miami. Along the way there, a solitary Orange-winged Amazon was spotted by Luis at the top of an Australian pine (which itself is an exotic species). As we drove up and down streets in the neighborhoods near the park, we found eight exotics, though only two were new: Indian Peafowl and House Sparrow. Other birds seen during this stop included White-winged Dove, Anhinga, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Northern Cardinal.
Our next stop was at Pine Woods Park in Kendall. Along the way there, we spotted three Mitred Parakeets perched on power lines along US 1 and a couple of Common Myna near the Falls shopping center. At the “park” (actually a power line right-of-way), we found six exotics, of which four were new: Rock Pigeon, Monk Parakeet, Red-whiskered Bulbul and Scaly-breasted Munia. Other birds encountered there included Cooper’s Hawk, Northern House Wren, Gray Catbird and Brown Thrasher.
We managed to time our visit to Coral Reef Park in Palmetto Bay perfectly, as a flock of fifteen Chestnut-fronted Macaws decided to make a feeding stop at the park right after we arrived. While we were enjoying these beautiful birds, three Blue-and-yellow Macaws soared directly over our heads! We added two other new species while there: Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Parula. During our next stop in the Dadeland Mall area, we found a big flock of Mitred Parakeets swirling overhead; a few others were feeding in palm trees or perched on the windowsills of one of this area’s tall buildings. We also saw our first Turkey Vultures there.
We paid another quick visit to the South Miami neighborhood near Brewer Park, where we spotted an exotic species that was missed on our first pass through this area; a Spot-breasted Oriole. We also saw our only Red-shouldered Hawk of the tour while there. We then headed to Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, the only reliable location in Miami-Dade for Gray-headed Swamphen. In short order, we found two of these introduced rails in one of the lakes on the south side of the mall. While there, we also saw Common Gallinule, American Coot, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron and Common Yellowthroat.
We took an early lunch break at Shorty’s BBQ on Bird Road; a couple of Common Mynas and several White-crowned Pigeons were seen around the restaurant. After lunch, we drove north to our only stop in Broward County: Topeekeegee Yugnee Park in Hollywood. Our target there was Blue-crowned Parakeet; we found a small flock of these adorable parakeets in live oaks near the park’s lake. We had to deal with heavy traffic on I-95 to get to this park; the traffic was just as heavy southbound as we made our way back into Miami-Dade. A pair of Mottled Ducks flew over our van while in stop-and-go traffic on I-95 in North Miami Beach.
While driving east on the John F. Kennedy Causeway towards Miami Beach, we stopped briefly in North Bay Village to search for parakeets but were unable to find any there. Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Common Loon, Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Pelican were among the new trip birds seen in this area. On Normandy Isle, we spotted a flock of White-eyed Parakeets flying towards Normandy Shores Golf Course, so we made an unscheduled stop at Fairway Park, adjacent to the golf course, but were unable to relocate the flock. Three Blue-crowned Parakeets were seen flying ahead of us as we were leaving that area. We continued our search for parakeets as we drove through neighborhoods on Miami Beach but were unable to find a single one.
Returning to the mainland, we dropped off a few participants at Tropical Park, then returned for a final time to South Miami, but found nothing new there. The tour’s final stop was at a shopping center on Bird Road where a few White-winged Parakeets had been recently discovered roosting every evening in palm trees in the parking lot among a large flock of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets. White-winged Parakeet numbers have declined significantly in Florida in recent years, so until their discovery at this roost, they had become extremely difficult to find.
While waiting for the parakeets to arrive, we crossed Bird Road to search for cowbirds in the shopping center known to local birders as Cortadito Cowbirds. We found a half-dozen Bronzed Cowbirds perched on power lines behind the shopping center. As sunset drew close, we returned to the roost area and soon, small flocks of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets began to arrive and circle overhead. Eventually, we spotted a White-winged Parakeet flying among one of the flocks, and shortly after, a second one. We were even able to see one perched in a tree, allowing us to study its field marks.
The White-winged Parakeets were the 22nd and final exotic species tallied for our tour. In the same tree where we saw the White-winged Parakeet perched, we also found a Yellow-throated Warbler, which was the 74th and final species added to our trip list. A complete list of birds seen on this tour can be viewed in this eBird trip report. Photos taken of several of the birds seen on the tour can also be viewed there.
Blue-crowned Parakeets: Photo by Brian Rapoza