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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



Breeding birds preferring a moist 

 habitat, generally near a stream or 

 swamp, include the following: green 

 heron, black-crowned night heron, sand- 

 hill crane, king rail, Virginia rail, sora, 

 yellow rail, black rail, purple gallinule 

 (south), Florida gallinule, marbled god- 

 wit (north), spotted sandpiper, marsh 

 hawk, osprey, belted kingfisher, phoebe, 

 Traill's flycatcher, savanna sparrow, 

 Nelson's sparrow, swamp sparrow, tree 

 swallow, bank swallow, rough-winged 

 swallow, prothonotary warbler. Swain- 

 son's warbler (south), yellow warbler, 

 sycamore warbler, Louisiana water- 

 thrush, Maryland yellow-throat, hooded 

 warbler, short-billed marsh wren. 



Breeding birds whose habitat is 

 limited to the presence of water, gener- 

 ally a local condition, include the follow- 

 ing: bittern, least bittern, great blue 

 heron, snowy egret, little blue heron, 

 yellow-headed blackbird, red-winged 

 blackbird, and long-billed marsh wren. 



8. SOUTHEASTERN CONIFEROUS FOREST 

 (southeastern MESOPHYTIC EVER- 

 GREEN FOREST, SHREVE) (pROBABLY 

 INCLUDES THE SOUTHEASTERN EVER- 

 GREEN-DECIDUOUS TRANSITION, SHREVE) 



Copious rain in summer. Frequent 

 fires an important environmental factor. 

 The coastal plain forest is of evergreen 

 needle-leaved trees, with a subordinate 

 admixture of evergreen broad-leaved 

 and deciduous species. "Extensive 

 areas of this forest are pure stands of 

 longleaf pine {Pinus palustris), or 

 Cuban pine (P. caribaea) in open forma- 

 tion, with a clear floor nearly devoid of 

 shrubs and carpeted with grasses and 

 herbaceous plants." The mammals are 

 in part similar to those of the deciduous 

 forest, which is probably the climax 

 type over most of the region. For a 

 list of mammals and reptiles see account 

 of Alabama. 



Breeding birds include the following: 

 wild turkey, passenger pigeon (extinct), 

 mourning dove, ground dove, black 

 vulture, swallow-tailed kite, Mississippi 

 kite, Cooper's hawk, Florida red- 

 shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, broad 

 winged hawk, sparrow hawk, bam owl, 



Florida barred owl, Florida screech owl, 

 great horned owl, Carolina paroquet, 

 yellow-billed cuckoo, southern hairy 

 woodpecker, southern downy wood- 

 pecker, red-cockaded woodpecker, plic- 

 ated woodpecker, red-headed wood- 

 pecker, red-bellied woodpecker, chuck- 

 will's widow, flicker, Florida night- 

 hawk, chimney swift, ruby-throated 

 hummingbird, kingbird, crested fly- 

 catcher, wood pewee, blue jay, southern 

 crow, fish crow, cowbird, orchard oriole, 

 Baltimore oriole, purple grackle, pine- 

 woods sparrow, Bachman's sparrow, 

 chipping sparrow, Alabama towhee, 

 cardinal, blue grosbeak, summer tana- 

 ger, purple martin, red-eyed vireo, 

 warbling vireo, yellow-throated vireo, 

 white-eyed vireo, black and white 

 warbler, black-throated green warbler, 

 pine warbler, Florida yellow-throat, 

 yellow-breasted chat, Kentucky war- 

 bler, mockingbird, catbird, brown 

 thrasher, Carolina wren, Bewick's 

 wren, Florida white-breasted nuthatch, 

 brown-headed nuthatch, tufted titmouse, 

 Carolina chickadee, blue-gray gnat- 

 catcher, wood thrush, southern robin 

 and bluebird. 



Breeding birds whose habitat is gener- 

 ally limited to the pre-forest or other 

 early stages of succession include the 

 following: bob-white, goldfinch, logger- 

 head shrike, and prairie warbler. 



Breeding birds preferring a moist 

 habitat, generally near a stream or 

 swamp include the following: indigo 

 bunting, prothonotary warbler. Swain- 

 son's warbler, sycamore warbler, Loui- 

 siana water-thrush, and hooded warbler. 



Breeding bird whose habitat is limited 

 to the presence of water, generally a 

 local condition, is the bald eagle. 



9. GRASSLAND BIOTA (GRASSLAND, 



SHREVE) (grassland CLIMAX, CLE- 

 MENTS) (includes true prairie; 



MIXED prairie; SHORT-GRASS PLAINS; 

 BUNCH-GRASS PRAIRIE OF THE NORTH- 

 WEST, CLEMENTS) 



Areas with rain chiefly in spring and 

 early summer. Dry season late in 

 summer. Winters cold and dry. 



The vast plains area, covered by a 



