I’ve been having a lot of fun photographing and learning about Snail Kites in Central Florida over the past couple of months. They’re remarkable birds of prey, even if their prey doesn’t move that fast.
Florida’s Snail Kite population was decimated by the decline of its main food source, native apple snails. They’ve rebounded thanks to a booming population of invasive apple snails that are much larger and much more difficult for the birds to snatch from the water and eat.
An episode of “Nature” on PBS noted how the birds had to evolve quickly in order to survive on the larger, invasive snails. (See the segment below.)
“Their beaks and bodies have grown up to 12 percent bigger in a little more than a decade,” the documentary noted. “It turns out a few big-beaked birds could handle the new supersized prey.”
When photographing the Snail Kites, I usually also spot clutches of eggs of the invasive apple snails. While the native apple snails’ eggs are white, the invasive ones’ are pinkish.
But Snail Kites aren’t the only birds that feast on apple snails, as I found out on a recent trip.
