Wildlife Happenings - May
May initiates the onset of Florida's summer. While nighttime temperatures can sometimes get quite cool, we'll start seeing daytime temps. in the 80's and 90's this month. Here are some animal behaviors you should look for this May:
Birds
- Brown pelican and white ibis young are now visible in nests.
- Painted Buntings nest through summer in northeast Florida.
- Least terns and snowy plovers nest on Panhandle beaches.
- Bald eagles begin migrating north
- Breeding begins for many resident and summer songbirds
- The last of the cedar waxwings and goldfinches head for their northern breeding grounds.
- Least terns and Snowy Plovers nest on beaches and sandy flats of the Panhandle.
Mammals
- Gray Bats congregate at maternity caves now through mid-July.
Reptiles
- Alligators begin to court and make loud resounding 'bellows'.
- The height of crocodile nesting in the Keys happens at the beginning of the month as well.
- Loggerhead sea turtles begin nesting on summer nights.
- Soft-shell and alligator snapping turtles complete egg laying.
Fish
- Bluegill are bedding at the full moon.
- Redbreast sunfish and spotted sunfish begin spawning in rivers
- Pompano running in the surf in north Florida
Insects
- Peak flight month for Schaus' swallowtail butterfly in the Keys.
Plants
- White swamp lillies dot wet prairies of the Everglades
- American lotus bloom at Paynes Prairies State Preserve
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