Beaches and Coasts

Lakes and Rivers

Forests

Inland

Everglades

Panoramas

Black and White

Florida is world-renowned for its beautiful landscapes. With over 1350 miles of coastline from the Atlantic Ocean to the Florida Keys to the northern Gulf of Mexico, there are an incredible number of unique and beautiful habitats, especially in the Florida Everglades. We also have thousands of islands, lakes and rivers (many of those are spring-fed) and of course our unique forest habitats from Central and Northern Florida down to our oak and scrub pinelands. The following galleries have a little bit of everything that the best of Sunshine State landscapes have to offer.

Brushfoots

Gossamer Wings

Swallowtails

Skippers

Sulphurs and Whites

Moths

Did you know that Florida is home to over 1,320 species of butterflies and moths? That number is still growing with careful and painstaking research, more new species are being discovered all the time!

Anhingas, Cormorants

Birds of Prey

Carrion Birds

Coots, Rails

Cranes, Limpkins

Ducks, Geese

Egrets, Herons

Gulls, Terns

Shorebirds

Songbirds

Spoonbills, Storks

Woodpeckers

When it comes to birds, the Sunshine State is fantastically rich in species diversity. The geography of Florida’s Peninsula creates a natural migratory route for millions of birds each year as they head south over the Caribbean towards Central and South America (and back). While some species are found all around the world, we are lucky to have 196 species of birds that live and breed in Florida.

Deer

Pigs

Rabbits and Hares

Manatees

Squirrels

Raccoons

Armadillos

We mammals have come a long way since the time of the dinosaurs. Since those times, we’ve conquered the land, sea and air. Florida has at least 99 species of mammals living, breeding and thriving today.

Crustaceans

Dragonflies

Grasshoppers, Locusts

Spiders

Snails, Mollusks

Other Invertebrates

96% of all currently living animal lifeforms alive today are invertebrates. Included are all the insects, arachnids, worms, crabs, shellfish, starfish, corals, and more! One thing they all have in common? No backbone.

Alligators, Crocodiles

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles, Tortoises

Long before the first dinosaur walked the earth, reptiles ruled the world. 65 million years after the last dinosaur drew its final breath, North America’s modern crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards, and turtles and tortoises are still keeping our Florida natural history alive!

Tree Frogs

Toads

Did you know the word “amphibian” means “two lives”? All amphibians start their lives in the underwater, but after they go through a series of metamorphosis stages to adulthood, most trade gills for lungs and live the rest of their lives out of the water. Florida is home to 33 native and non-native species of frogs and toads, and many more species of salamanders, newts and sirens!

Arethuseae

Calypsoeae

Cranichideae

Cymbidieae

Epidendreae

Malaxideae

Maxillarieae

Neottieae

Orchideae

Pogoniinae

Polystachyeae

Triphoreae

Vandeae

Vanilleae

One of the largest families in the plant kingdom with nearly 28 thousand species around the globe, orchids are also one of the most popular and most sought-after flowering plants in history. In Victorian times, entire foreign expeditions were sent around the world at great personal risk led by fearless (and often ruthless) orchid hunters to acquire the next new unknown exotic species from the most distant corner of the Earth. Luckily for us, Florida is rich with unique native species found nowhere else in the world!

Wildflowers by Color

Wildflowers by Family

By far our largest collection of galleries, these wildflower image sets are arranged by both color and by taxonomic family for use as a casual identification tool or field guide, or for more thorough scientific research for deeper understanding.

Pitcher Plants

Venus Flytraps

Bladderworts

Butterworts

Sundews

Sometimes called insectivorous plants, these amazing plants have adapted to a life in places where the soil is so poor in nutrients, that they’ve gained the ability to grow by trapping their food with modified leaves. By taking root in a harsh habitat, they have eliminated most of their competition from other plants.

Bromeliads

Mushrooms

Plants

Saprophytes

This last and final collection of galleries include all the non-wildflower images such as our native trees, ferns, palms, fruits and berries, cacti, saprophytes, mosses, bromeliads and more!
Florida Nature Facts #127 – Zebra Longwing

Florida Nature Facts #127 – Zebra Longwing

May 13, 2020

When it is disturbed, the zebra longwing butterfly makes a creaking sound by wiggling its body. At night, large groups will roost together on tree limbs. They return to the same roost night after night. MORE PHOTOS OF BUTTERFLIES MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida...

Florida Nature Facts #126 – Purple Gallinule

Florida Nature Facts #126 – Purple Gallinule

May 8, 2020

The purple gallinule's long toes make it possible to walk on lily pads - one of the few birds able to do so! Also, when young, these amazingly-colored birds crawl on bushes and out of the nest using tiny claws on their wing tips. MORE PHOTOS OF BIRDS MORE FLORIDA...

Florida Nature Facts #125 – Whooping Crane

Florida Nature Facts #125 – Whooping Crane

May 3, 2020

Whooping cranes eat aquatic invertebrates (insects, crustaceans and mollusks), small vertebrates (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals), roots, acorns and berries. MORE PHOTOS OF BIRDS MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature Facts is a series about...

Florida Nature Facts #124 – Snakes

Florida Nature Facts #124 – Snakes

Apr 28, 2020

Unlike most land-dwelling vertebrates that have a pair of lungs, snakes have one long lung. MORE PHOTOS OF SNAKES MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature Facts is a series about interesting facts about the flora, fauna and places that make Florida so amazing. Posts...

Florida Nature Facts #123 – Alligators and Crocodiles

Florida Nature Facts #123 – Alligators and Crocodiles

Mar 28, 2020

Most reptiles have 3-chambered hearts, but the heart of alligators, and all other crocodilians, has 4 chambers – a trait shared with mammals and birds. MORE PHOTOS OF ALLIGATORS MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature Facts is a series about interesting facts about...

Florida Nature Facts #121 – Butterflies

Florida Nature Facts #121 – Butterflies

Mar 18, 2020

Butterflies! Welcome to the next installment of a new series of nature photos that will be short & sweet, and all about the native and naturalized wildlife that is all around us with just one or two interesting nature facts that you might not know about. If you...

Florida Nature Facts #120 – Butterflies

Florida Nature Facts #120 – Butterflies

Mar 13, 2020

Most adult butterflies can't bite or chew. They eat mainly liquids like nectar, sap, juices from fruits, and sometimes even fluids from carcasses. They have a long, tube-like tongue called a proboscis, which works like a straw to suck up liquid. When they're not using...

Florida Nature Facts #117 – Parasitic Orchids

Florida Nature Facts #117 – Parasitic Orchids

Feb 17, 2020

Certain species of orchids are parasitic. They are not able to produce food (sugar) using the sunlight and carbon dioxide (like other green plants with chlorophyll). Instead, they obtain food from fungi that live inside their roots. MORE PHOTOS OF NATIVE ORCHIDS MORE...

Florida Nature Facts #116 – Ghost Crabs

Florida Nature Facts #116 – Ghost Crabs

Feb 12, 2020

Ghost crabs are found on many of the same beaches as sea turtle nests. They devour baby turtles while they hatching out in the sand, and drag the baby turtles into their burrows and eat them up. MORE PHOTOS OF INVERTEBRATES MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature...

Florida Nature Facts #113 – Black-Necked Stilt

Florida Nature Facts #113 – Black-Necked Stilt

Jan 13, 2020

To cool their nests in hot weather, stilts use their belly feathers to carry water to the nests, sometimes making more than a hundred trips a day.   VISIT THE BIRDS GALLERIES MORE FLORIDA NATURE FACTS Florida Nature Facts is a series about interesting facts about...

Archives

0

Pin It on Pinterest