Bonus: The Rarely Seen Florida Bonneted Bat
The Florida bonneted bat is the largest species of bat in Florida and can reach a length of 6.5 inches with a wingspan of 20 inches. Their diet primarily consists of flying insects.
The Florida bonneted bat was once believed to be common along Florida's eastern coast. Observations of it declined in the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1980, it was believed to be extinct. Today Florida bonneted bats are thought to be exceedingly rare, only occurring in a handful of counties in south Florida. Because there is no estimate on population size, the Florida bonneted bat didn’t meet the “official” parameters of being listed as endangered, but in 2013, they finally received endangered status under the federal
Endangered Species Act.
To date, scientists have only documented a few bonneted bat nursery roosts. Due to the species’ small range, the greatest threats to Florida bonneted bats are the loss of habitat through the destruction of natural roost sites from development, flooding from sea-level rise, and natural disasters such as hurricanes. Additionally, pesticide use could potentially threaten the bonneted bat population by affecting its food source.
So, if you live in South Florida and you have bats, leave them alone because you may have a rare roost of one of the most elusive and endangered bat species in the world!
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16 Comments
What about the kingfisher? I haven’t seen any for 8 years at least, how are they doing?
Go to Ozello to see kingfishers
Stone crabs, coral snakes, grouper, hogfish, bees, songbirds
The Florida Burrowing Owl should be included on this list. It was currently uplisted to threatened status by the State (FWC) but the conservation measures accompanying this uplisting are woefully inadequate to ensure recovery. Loss of habitat and lack of proper management are the major culprits. Occupied breeding sites are offered no real protections except during the breeding season, and those protections are very limited and do not go far enough to ensure successful breeding. There ARE ways to ensure continued survival of this species, but we need public education and political will to make it happen.
Congratulations
I’m a 70 Floridian.
I think if these as flo rida
The Miami Blue and Atala butterflies are rare Florida butterflies. I would love to see them profiled!
Miss the burrowing owls that used to live in our neighborhood park. I think they are endangered, at least in Broward County.
I hope this government is not going to overlook this issue please do not allow this to happen our most treasures are the flora and fauna of the Everglades.
I think there should be an amoratorium of spiny lobster, maybe allow catching them every other year….I’ve been diving off the east cost for 15 years and hardly ever see them…lobster min season s.b banned. Leave them ALONE!
I don’t hear or see the Bobwhite quail anymore.
My family owns a commercial beef cattle ranch in southeastern Manatee County and we see (and hear) quail quite often, though not in the numbers we used to. They will respond to a whistled “bobwhite” call and another quieter call I cannot describe accurately, but which I have learned to use. They actually will run towards that second call, but one has to sit absolutely still, like when calling a wild turkey, or they will flush (as will a turkey). However, you can issue the quail call from a parked car and they will ignore the car – something you can’t (to the best of my knowledge) with a turkey. We do not hunt quail, but a neighbor does, much to our dismay.
Monarch butterflies, actually all butterflies, and honey bees. We moved to Florida in 1986 and the butterflies and honey bees were prolific then. Now I hardly see them at all! We need better regulation on three pesticides that are killing them! Not only do we lose the beauty of them, but if we lose our pollinators, we also lose many of the foods we eat!
I bought an empty lot on the West coast of Florida so no one would disturb the burrowing owls there by building a house or other structure!
Ground Owls should be included.
I would add Least Terns and Snowy Plovers, both shorebirds that have declined dramatically in recent years.
We also need to consider some of the invasive species problems we have such as the ball python, monitor lizard, and other weird lizards cropping up all around….