Tallahassee Naturally

Birds Watching at Suntan Lake

If you are interested in bird watching or just love nature, you will be happy to hear that there are many species of birds that you can view at Suntan Lake. If you are new to bird watching you might want to check out the following sites to get more information:

Audubon Society - http://www.audubon.org/
Birdwatching.com - http://www.birdwatching.com/
Wildlife Association - http://www.enature.com/

Below is a detailed list of the types of birds that have been seen at Suntan Lake. Because some folks are not novice to bird watching, the list is provided using a two alpha code system. The first letter provides info about how COMMON a sighting is. The second code provides info about WHEN you might see the bird.

Code:

A=Abundant	Y=Year-round
C=Common	S=Summer
U=Uncommon	W=Winter
R=Rare	M=Migrant

List of birds categorized:

primitive waterfowl

UY pied-billed grebe
UY double-crested cormorant
US anhinga

herons

CY great blue heron
CY great egret
CY little blue heron
UY cattle egret
CY green heron
US wood stork
RY white ibis

ducks

RS mottled duck
UY wood duck
UW lesser scaup
RW bufflehead

hawks

AY turkey vulture
US swallow-tailed kite
RS Mississippi kite
CY red-shouldered hawk
RW bald eagle
RY osprey

chicken-like birds

UY bobwhite
UY turkey

shorebirds

UW spotted sandpiper
RW common snipe

miscellaneous families

UY mourning dove
CS yellow-billed cuckoo
RY screech owl
CY barred owl
AS chuck-will's widow
RW whip-poor-will
CY belted kingfisher

woodpeckers

UY pileated woodpecker
UY red-bellied woodpecker
UY downy woodpecker

flycatchers

US eastern kingbird
US great crested flycatcher
UW eastern phoebe

swallows

RS purple martin
RS barn swallow

jays and crows

UY blue jay
CY common crow
RY fish crow

little birds

CY Carolina chickadee
CY tufted titmouse
AY Carolina wren

thrashers

CW gray catbird
UY brown thrasher

thrushes

RY American robin

other perching birds

UY blue-gray gnatcatcher
RM cedar waxwing

vireos

AS white-eyed vireo
US yellow-throated vireo

warblers

AW yellow-rumped warbler
RY pine warbler
RW ovenbird
UY common yellowthroat

blackbirds

RS orchard oriole

finches

CY cardinal

AY rufus-sided towhee