Birds Flock to the Dry Tortugas
It’s a beautiful time of year to be visiting the Dry Tortugas, and to see all the different types of birds that are flocking to the island. There have been sightings of so many different types of birds on the island this week that it’s been hard to choose which one as our favorite.
Our visitors confirmed sightings of Masked Booby, and Sooty terns, but we decided our favorite sighting of the week was of the young male bunting exploring Fort Jefferson (pictured). The young male bunting hadn’t molten into its brilliantly colored feathers yet, and was probably somewhere in its juvenile stage. The male bunting tends to migrate from as far as Central America, to the southeast of Texas, Florida, all the way through the West Indies. These birds are a part of the finch family, and prefer to be in scrubby habitats and forests in the winter. Female buntings will stay brown as they mature, and the males will change into a bright plumage.
If you’re looking to for the perfect getaway to enjoy some birding activities, then we suggest booking a tour to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson. The weather for the last week has been staying pretty steady in the 70-degree range, and has been partly cloudy a few days. It’s fast approaching the hot summer, and the bird species are only growing in numbers every day.