Fun Florida birds

I would like to share a few unusual (to me) birds from my trip to St. Petersburg, Florida.
This first one is the Anhinga. He would often hold his wings wide open, like he was sunning. I was told they have less oil in there feathers and will dry them this way. (?)

This is the Common Moorhen.

The American Coot is much more common, but his feet are SO WEIRD.

The Roseate Spoonbill.

The huge Wood Stork with the spoonbill.

Spoonbill in action. "spooning"... Wood stork looking on.

Nice pics, Julie.

I saw an anhinga in Florida last January drying his wings. Unusual to see. OMG that coot's feet are weird Julie! Beautiful spoonbill and wood stork.

Great pics Julie! The feet are weird but I love the legs and feet on the Moorhen!

Nice ones Julie...I've never seen any of these birds! Thanks for posting them!

Yep, that's right. That means their feathers soak up water more easily, which makes underwater swimming more efficient (neutral buoyancy in the water). Water-repellant feathers hold a lot of air, which makes deep dives less easy.

The downside is they need to spend so much time drying their feathers, and they also need to eat more food than 'waterproof' birds to avoid getting chilled while drying out.

Resin

Great pics, JulieQ. I've only seen the Wood Stork and Coots but would love to see the others, too

Fantastic birds, Julie. So glad you posted them. I think I'd die if I saw a Roseate Spoonbill. I love the feet on the Coot and Moorhen.