restricted to the bay. A majority 

 of the nests of the great blue heron 

 ( Ardea herodias ) were also located 

 in the bay on the smaller mangrove 

 keys. Approximate quantities of 



these and other species that were in 

 residence are listed in Table 37 in 

 comparison with quantities reported 

 in the estuarine and saltwater wet- 

 lands (ESSW), the terrestrial and 

 freshwater wetlands (TFWW), and the 

 lower Keys. 



Table 37. Distribution of breed- 

 ing, wading, and swim- 

 ming birds in the four 

 ecosystems of the study 

 area (adapted from 

 Kushland and White 

 and Osborn and Custer 

 1978). 



According to Zieman (1982), 

 swimmers (double crested cormorants 

 and white pelicans) and the flyers/ 

 plungers (eagles, osprey) prefer to 

 utilize the seagrass habitat at high 

 tide while waders prefer low tide. 



Other water birds that breed 

 in or near the mud flats, mangroves, 

 and seagrasses of Florida Bay 

 include the laughing gull ( Larus 



atricilla ) (Kushlan 1977) and numer- 

 ous probing shore birds such as the 

 willet ( Catoptrophorus semipalma- 



tus ) , snowy plover ( Charadrius 

 alexandrinus ) , Wilson's plover 



( Charadrius wilsonia ), black necked 

 stilt ( Himontopus mexicanus ), and 

 gullbilled tern ( Gelochelidon 



nilotica ) (Robertson and Kushlan 

 1974). 



Little (or nothing) has been 

 reported on the arboreal avifauna of 

 the mangrove keys of Florida Bay. 

 Judging from the relative paucity of 

 land breeders in the Keys, the man- 

 grove islands probably harbor a 

 progressively depauperate avifauna 

 with increasing distance from the 

 mainland. 



8.36 MAMMALS 



The two most conspicuous mam- 

 mals found in Florida Bay are the 

 bottlenosed dolphin ( Tursiops 



truncatus ) and the endangered West 

 Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) . 

 According to Odell (1976) a total of 

 27 species of marine mammals have 

 been sighted or stranded in south 

 Florida waters. 



Reports of dolphins in National 

 Park waters were not broken down by 

 geographic areas by Odell (1976); 

 however, overall density of areal 

 sightings was much higher than in 

 Biscayne Bay to the east. Dolphin 

 abundance was lowest from September 

 through November; the author specu- 

 lates this was related to the fall 

 calving/mating season. Mullet were 

 the only prey of the dolphin which 

 could be easily identified from the 

 survey. 



Manatee sightings, on the other 

 hand, were broken down by regions 

 within the park. Of the total num- 

 ber of herds counted, only 1% were 

 in Florida Bay, 46% in Whitewater 



173 



