Fort Jefferson Bird Watching

What a delightful spring we’ve been having here in Key West, Florida and the Dry Tortugas National Park . The wind has picked up quite a bit, as we expected, and have had some light showers sprinkled across the month so far. With these large gusts of winds has come in handy for the migrating birds of the Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas, because it has made it a little bit easier for the birds to fly into our grounds.

Our seaplanes had to take a rest on their journeys to the Dry Tortugas for a day last week, because we would rather be safe than sorry, and the wind was blowing a just a tad bit too hard for our liking. So we boarded passenger’s that were on the plane onto our ferry service, the Yankee Freedom, and enjoyed the day at Fort Jefferson, snorkeling the day away.

As far as bird-watching goes for the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson, we’re seeing more and more different species of birds everyday. It’s hard to chose just one to write about each week, but we’ve decided our favorite bird sighting this week is the Merlin (as pictured).

The Merlin is a fiery little bird belonging to the Falcon family. These fierce predator birds prey on smaller birds such as songbirds and shorebirds by surprise attacking them. The Merlins are a powerful bird that has a stockier body type, with sharp-pointed wings with a broad chest. These birds have a stripe to them with narrow white bands on the chest and tail, and the tip of the tail tending to be a dark brown color.

This bird was often referred as the “lady hawks” by medieval falconers, and their population bounced back from near endangerment in the 20th century due to the ban of DDT, a pesticide that use to be used. The Merlin usually nests in open forests, grasslands, and coastal areas.

Come enjoy bird watching with us and other avid bird watchers on your Florida vacation in Key West , and book a tour with us to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson by visiting our website or calling us at (877) 243-2378.