Birds

Cattle Egrets get their name from their habit of wandering among herds of livestock looking for insects. They're a common sight in fields and along roadsides as well, particularly where freshly mowed grass has stirred up a prospective meal.

Common Moorhens forage in freshwater marshes, ponds and lazy rivers, walking and swimming in aquatic vegetation, picking at seeds, snails, grasses and aquatic insects.

Common Terns fly buoyantly along the shoreline and rivers, using their long, pointed wings to make graceful turns, hover and plunge headlong into the water in pursuit of small fish.

Dunlins forage on Gulf Coast beaches and mudflats, both alone and in large flocks in the hundreds. During breeding season they are hard to mistake for other shorebirds, with their long, drooping bill, rufous plumage and distinctive black patch on their belly.

Great Blue Herons are the largest of the herons, flying majestically with strong, steady beats of their enormous wings. They typically feed alone while wading slowly in the quiet waters of a marsh or slough, often standing upright and motionless as they search the surrounding water for prey.

Great Egrets have a long, thin neck and strong, tapered bill ideal for striking at prey from a distance.

Inca Doves are small and slender with distinctive, scalloped light brown plumage and a long, square tail.

King Rails are shy and usually found in the dense vegetation of freshwater marshes, where their colors blend in with the background. You're more likely to hear them than see them.

Laughing Gulls are beggars, scavengers and thieves. They'll entice handouts from visitors on the beach or people hanging off the stern a boat. They'll rummage through a garbage dump or steal food from the bills of pelicans, terns and other shorebirds.

Least Bitterns crouch deep among the reeds of marshes and other wetlands, so unobtrusive that you're likely to flush them before you see them.