Posted by Toe on January 01, 1970 at 00:00:00
Among the many theories about the demise of this species in South Florida, I have not heard the following theory. I just saw a photo of this bird up in Lox and noticed it's in a Brazilian Pepper tree. This species was most prevalent in our area during a time when exotic vegetation was at it's highest coverage. Since then, there has been considerable effort in eradicating many of these exotic plant species, including Brazilian Pepper. Could it be that the Ani were somehow dependant on one or more of these species, and that the removal of exotic vegetation is what brought down the numbers of the Ani? Or, is there still enought exotic vegetation out there in the right areas and the cause of the decline of the Ani is something unrelated? Discuss.