FLORIDA 
23 at Mashes Sands Park 22 Jul (SMc); and 5 
summering at Little Estero Lagoon, Ft. Myers 
Beach, Lee (CE). A White-rumped Sandpiper 
at Dry Tortugas N.P. 2 Jun was surprisingly 
the only report for the summer (CW). Early 
Red Knots were reported at Ft. De Soto Park 
12 Jul (84; P&JS); Bald Point S.E 27 Jun (24; 
M&SK); Ponce de Leon Inlet 13 Jul (4; MBr); 
Little Estero Lagoon 16 Jun (one; CE); and 
Stump Pass Beach S.E, Charlotte 22 Jun (one; 
Susan Daughtrey). Rare inland, 2 Sanderlings 
in Leon 29 Jul were early (GM, Marvin 
Collins), as was a Wilson’s Phalarope at L. 
Apopka 24 Jun (HR). 
Each spring and early summer, numbers of 
Laughing Gulls in alternate plumage are ob- 
served transiting the peninsula from the Gulf; 
this summer’s high inland counts were 52 at 
Newnans L., Alachua 7 Jun (RR) and 21 at L. 
Apopka 2 Jun (HR). Three Lesser Black- 
backed Gulls at Cutler Wetlands 12 Jul (SP) 
was the high count for this species this sum- 
mer. Black-backed gulls are rare and local on 
the Gulf; single Lesser Black-backeds were 
found at Three Rooker Bar, Pinellas 12-17 Jun 
(RoS et al.) and Ben T. Davis Beach, Hillsbor- 
ough 12 Jul (KT), while lone Great Black- 
backeds were identified at Tyndall A.EB., Bay 
15 Jul (Dan Greene) and Treasure I., Pinellas 
12Jul+ (Sandy Harris et al.). Gulf Islands N.S., 
Escambia personnel counted 243 Least Tern 
chicks 8 Jun (fide RAD); however, after an 
overwash event at Little Estero Lagoon, only 
48 volant juvs. remained as of 10 Jul (CE). 
Twenty-five Least Terns at Matanzas Inlet, St. 
Johns fledged by 27 Jul after a May storm de- 
stroyed hundreds of nests (Monique Bor- 
boen). At least one nesting pair of Gull-billed 
Terns at Ft. Pickens furnished a new breeding 
site for this species (R&LD). A first-summer 
Arctic Tern at Gulf Islands N.S., Escambia 27 
Jul was only the 2nd for the panhandle 
(R&LD). A Pomarine Jaeger off Clearwater 
Beach, Pinellas 20 Jun (SC) was the only 
jaeger reported. 
DOVES THROUGH MIMIDS 
Only the 4th report since 1994, a Zenaida 
Dove was discovered on Key Largo, Monroe 4 
Jun (ph. LaM); there was an unverified report 
of the bird the next day. Typically late mi- 
grants, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was at Dry 
Tortugas N.P. 2 Jun (CW). Rare and endan- 
gered in Florida, single Smooth-billed Anis 
were reported at Belle Glade, Palm Beach 3 
Jun (Eric Gegring), where anis were common 
30 years ago, and farther w. at S.T.A.-5 on 20 
Jun (ph. KW et al.). Historically, a few 
Smooth-billeds emigrated from the Antilles, 
passing through Florida’s keys in the spring 
and summer annually; this pattern continued 
this summer, when one passed through Bill 
Baggs Cape Florida S.P, Miami-Dade 30 Jul 
(Robin Diaz). Post-breeding dispersal occa- 
sionally brings Burrowing Owls to the barrier 
islands along the Atlantic Coast, where one 
was found at Satellite Beach, Brevard 12 Jul 
(SS). Short-eared Owls, presumably from the 
Caribbean population, continue to appear 
sporadically during the summer in the s.-cen. 
peninsula. Singles were found at Kissimmee 
Prairie Preserve S.P. 1 Jun (fide Paul Miller), 
with other reports from the park later in the 
season (fide LA) and at Avon Park Air Force 
Range, Polk 12 Jun (DR). Only a casual breed- 
er in the s. peninsula, a Ruby-throated Hum- 
mingbird was observed building a nest at Big 
Cypress Bend Boardwalk, Fakahatcbee Strand 
S.P, Collier 27 Jun (AM). 
A Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird was seen at 
Hickory Mound W.M.A. 14 Jun, a hrst for Tay- 
lor QM, Stephanie Parker), while a Tropical 
Kingbird was at Homestead, Miami-Dade 18 
Jul about 8 km from where 2 Tropical King- 
birds spent winter 2008-2009 (RoT, LaM). 
From the panhandle came reports of Gray 
Kingbirds nesting in five different coastal loca- 
tions (R&LD). Single Red-eyed and Black- 
whiskered Vireos at Dry Tortugas N.P 2 Jun 
were late (CW). There were seven Jul reports 
of Tree Swallows, the earliest at L. Apopka 5 
Jul with an early Bank Swallow (HR). A Cliff 
Swallow at Opal Beach 8 Jul was the earliest in 
fall for the panhandle by 11 days (RAD). 
West Indian Cave Swallows have been breeding 
locally in Miami-Dade since at least 1987. South- 
western pallida Cave Swallows are annual visitors, espe- 
cially along the coasts. Several were noted in Jun and Jul 
2008 with nesting Barn Swallows at a bridge at St. Marks 
N.W.R.; up to 4 were seen at the same bridge from Apr 
2009+ and were reported by a refuge biologist to be 
breeding there (JM, Jean Simpson) — a first for that pop- 
ulation in Florida. 
Very rare in summer in the extreme ne. 
peninsula, an American Robin was seen at 
Boulougne, Nassau 10 Jun (DF). For the 9th 
consecutive summer, a Gray Catbird was s. in 
Gainesville, Alachua, where breeding has 
been attempted in previous years but has not 
been known to have been successful (RR, 
Craig Parenteau et al). Farther s., single cat- 
birds were discovered at Sugden Regional 
Park, Naples, Collier 3 Jul (AM) and L. Apop- 
ka 17 Jul (HR). 
WARBLERS THROUGH FINCHES 
Since the late 1970s, the proliferation of 
breeding cowbirds throughout the peninsula 
has paralleled the decline of two mangrove- 
Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe host Western 
Spindalis annually, with occasionally 2 or more In 
the same area. Females, because of their plain plumage 
and relatively sedentary nature, are rarely reported but 
likely show up in numbers similar to those of the more 
striking males. Until recently, the idea of spindalis breed- 
ing in Florida has been wishful thinking. On 28 Jul, 2 fe- 
males and a singing black-backed male were located at 
Long Pine Key, Everglades N.P. (Heidi Trudell, Matthew 
York et al). On .at least one occasion, the females were 
seen attacking each other, and one female was noted to 
have a definite brood patch. Eventually, a nest was found 
in a nearby pine tree, in habitat very much like that in the 
Bahamas where this population breeds. The last of 3 
young fledged 1 Sep (LaM)! This constituted the first 
record of this species breeding in Florida and in the conti- 
nental United States. 
breeding species in Florida: Black-whiskered 
Vireo and Prairie Warbler. At Green Key, Pas- 
co, where last year KT counted 10 singing 
Prairie Warbler males, he located only 3 this 
summer, including one feeding a fledgling 
Brown-headed Cowbird 18 Jun. A 2 Jun visit 
to Dry Tortugas N.P found late warblers, in- 
cluding a female Northern Parula, a male 
Magnolia, a female Black-throated Blue, a fe- 
male Blackpoll, and 2 female American Red- 
starts (CW). A Kentucky Warbler was late at 
Boulougne 10 Jun (DF). A female Black-and- 
white Warbler at Gulf Breeze, Santa Rosa 6 
Jun was the latest for the panhandle (R&LD), 
while another at Ft. George L, Duval 4 Jul 
(P&JS) tied the earliest Jul date for Florida. 
Thirteen days earlier than the previous earli- 
est fall report, an imm. Magnolia was pho- 
tographed at the Florida State University 
Coastal and Marine Lab, Turkey Pi., Eranklin 
21 Jul (Rob Lengacher). Other early warblers 
included: a female Cerulean and a Worm-eat- 
ing Warbler at Jacksonville, Duval 31 Jul (DF) 
and 24 Jul (Mary Davidson), respectively; a 
For several years. Bronzed Cowbirds have been 
year-round residents in Miami-Dade. In 2008, 
breeding was suspected when a juv. appeared at a Home- 
stead bird feeder (LaM, ph. BP), and a report was received 
of a female Red-winged Blackbird feeding a fledgling 
Bronzed Cowbird at Davie, Broward (BRo). Finally, at Da- 
nia Beach, a fledgling of this notorious nest-parasite of 
tropical orioles was photographed being fed by s. Florida's 
only breeding Icterus species, the established exotic Spot- 
breasted Oriole (Arthur Nelson, fideM). Confirmation of 
the Bronzed breeding brought to three the total number 
of cowbird species verified breeding in Florida. 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 4 
587 
