BACK COUNTRY BY ROBERT ADAMS
Summer mornings bring a mix of wading birds to this shallow canal, feeding together on small fish, insect larvae and the occasional young alligator. Species with specialized bills sweep or dabble through the mud to find prey. Roseate spoonbills dabble with their spoonshaped bills, while wood storks forage alongside them, each species working its niche in the wetland. The snowy egret — white plumage, yellow feet — was nearly wiped out in the early 1900s by plume hunters supplying the fashion trade. Its recovery is a success story of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
