[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Larry Manfredi on 16:56:38 03/11/10
In Reply to: Snail Kite Facing New Danger in South Florida posted by Chris Takacs
The Snail Kite is found from South Florida and Cuba all of the way to Argentina in South American. Pomacea insularum is found in most of the warmer areas of South America with suitable habitat. This is a bigger snail than our native one so it will provide more food for our kites. It would be nice to be able to eradicate all non-naive species, put this will probably never happen.
So on a positive note, if we can't get rid of Pomacia insularum than it may provide additional food for the kites and Limpkins that also eat them. If the kites can eat them in South American, they can and do eat them here!
South Florida is full of exotics species of every kind!! I think it may be an impossible task to rid our state of all of these invasive species. Perhaps if we had stricter laws on the importation of all of these exotics, it would help keep them from spreading here in South Florida. Of course another few cold winters will certainly help keep the numbers down on some species.
Larry Manfredi
Homestead, FL.
E-mail: birderlm@bellsouth.net
http://www.southfloriabirdng.com
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]