Snail Kites in Florida

Lake Okeechobee

I have been on vacation for a while in Florida and one of my main target birds this year was Snail Kite. I saw a couple last year while I was here, but very brief views and no photos. I tried several of the known locations for them right away but was unsuccessful. I finally found a female at Torry Island, in Bella Grade on the south side of Lake Okeechobee. I was talking to a local woman about a Painted x Indigo Bunting, when it flew up from the marshy area. I saw the general area where it landed, so I walked over to and climbed the observation tower to scan for it. After a few minutes, I finally found it sitting really low to the water, but it was at least 200 yards away. Of course, it was on the south side of me, sitting in terrible light. After a few minutes, it flew down to a stump in the water and then again quickly flew and grabbed a snail. It took the snail and flew to another perch and started eating it. This was a really slow process and since it was further away, I gave up watching after 40 minutes or so. This area was also hosting a beautiful male Vermilion Flycatcher and two Tropical Kingbirds. Both of those birds were life birds for me, so I focused on them for a little while. I came back to the observation tower after, and the Snail Kite was still in the same spot and hadn’t moved. I guess I didn’t miss anything to fun. Below are the photos from that day. Enjoy!

Lake Tohopekaliga

A couple weeks later, we took an airboat tour on Lake Tohopekaliga, with Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures. I didn’t bring my equipment with me, as I thought it just going to be a fun boat ride. Well, that was a huge mistake! We saw 6 Snail Kites, which like most birds in Florida are extremely tame. We got within 75′ of a female sitting on a post hunting, in a large, loud airboat! The captain turned off the boat and explained to the others what bird it was and that it’s endangered. I couldn’t believe it, best view I ever had and no camera, unbelievable! After the tour, I talked with our boat captain, and he suggested I do a private tour just for the Snail Kites. So that’s what we did. I booked it for the following day, early in the morning, to get the best possible light. It was amazing and well worth it, if you are interested in getting up close and personal to them. On the private tour we saw 8, including two males, one of which posed beautifully for me. I highly suggest doing one if you’re down ever down that way. Photos below are from the private airboat tour. Enjoy!

Snail Kite information

I’ve included a few links with more information about them.

Everglade snail kite | FWC (myfwc.com)

Snail Kite | Audubon Florida

Snail Kite Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology