Surprise! Florida Everglades snail kites thrive in Del Webb development

Surprise! Florida’s Everglades snail kites are thriving in a Del Webb development, where a wetlands preserve has become a breeding and monitoring area for the birds. In Port St. Lucie, residents have observed three baby snail kites from three separate mating pairs in nests located in sable palm trees within a small protected section behind a recently built Del Webb community in Tradition. The pairs began nesting about two months ago, and the fledglings emerged two to three weeks earlier. The preserve also attracts herons, sandhill cranes, wood storks, green herons, tri-colored herons, anhingas, and at least one rosette spoonbill, while deer and wild hogs have been seen crossing the wetlands. Researchers from the University of Florida Snail Kite Lab banded the fledglings to enable tracking. The wetlands are part of a roughly 30-acre conservation area set aside through the Southern Grove Community Development District.