The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123 ( 1 ): 126 — 131 , 2011 
BIRDS CONSUMED BY THE INVASIVE BURMESE PYTHON (PYTHON 
MOLURUS BIVITTATUS ) IN EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, 
FLORIDA, USA 
CARLA J. DOVE, 1 - 4 RAY W. SNOW, 2 MICHAEL R. ROCHFORD, 3 AND 
FRANK J. MAZZOTTI 3 
ABSTRACT. We identified 25 species of birds representing nine avian Orders from remains in digestive tracts of 85 
Burmese pythons {Python molurus bivittatus) collected in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA, from 2003 to 2008. 
Four species of birds identified in this study are of special concern in Florida and a fifth, the Wood Stork (Mycteria 
americana ), is listed as federally endangered. This represents the first detailed analysis of the avian component of the diet 
of the introduced Burmese python, now established in Everglades National Park, Florida and highlights the potential for 
considerable negative impact of this invasive species on native bird populations. Received 9 June 2010. Accepted 21 
September 2010. 
The Burmese python ( Python molurus bivitat- 
tus) is now well established in Everglades 
National Park (ENP), Florida (Snow 2006, Snow 
et al. 2007c). These snakes, often considered a 
subspecies ol the Indian python (P. molurus ), can 
grow to 6 m and weigh 90 kg (Ernst and Zug 
1996). The Burmese python was first recorded in 
the Everglades in 1979 and has since frequently 
been observed or collected in canals, along main 
park roads, and even in remote mangrove (red 
mangrove, Rhizophora mangle ; black mangrove, 
Avicennia germinans ; white mangrove, Laguncu- 
laria racemosa; buttonwood, Conocarpus erecta) 
backcountry areas (Snow et al. 2007a). Large 
specimens of this snake were reported in ENP In 
the 1980s (Meshaka et al. 2000) but have only 
been documented as breeding in the United States 
since 2006 (Snow et al. 2007b). The Burmese 
python has spread throughout ENP over the past 
two decades and has also been recorded in the 
Florida Keys and elsewhere in Florida. 
Typical food items consumed by the closely 
related Indian python ( P . molurus molurus) 
include mammals, amphibians, lizards, snakes, 
birds, and fish (Ernst and Zug 1996). Researchers 
are just now beginning to investigate the dietary 
habits of the Burmese python in ENP to help 
identify the impact of this invasive species on the 
1 Smithsonian Institution, Division of Birds, NHB E-600, 
MRC 116, Washington. D.C. 20560, USA. 
' South Florida Natural Resources Center, Everglades 
National Park, 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead FL 
33034, USA. 
3 University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Research and 
Education Center, 3205 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale 
FL 33314, USA. 
Corresponding author; e-mail: dovec^si.edu 
native fauna (Snow et al. 2007a). Mammal species 
recorded as prey by the Burmese python in ENP 
include rodents and carnivores (Snow et al. 
2007a), and as repotted by Greene et al. (2007), 
the endangered Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma 
floriclanci small 7). 
We identified birds consumed by Burmese 
pythons in ENP from 2003 to 2008 using a 
combination of feather identification techniques 
and morphological comparisons of osteological 
fragments. Many of the same samples examined 
were used to identify mammalian prey (Snowetal. 
2007a). Continued documentation of the prey 
species of this invasive snake will add to our 
knowledge of the diet of the Burmese python in 
ENP, and alert conservation agencies, park offi¬ 
cials, and the pet trade of the potential devastation 
this species can cause to native bird populations 
that did not evolve with this type of predator. 
METHODS 
Eighty-five of 343 Burmese pythons (25%) 
collected within Everglades National Park loca¬ 
tions (Fig. 1) during 2003-2008 were found to 
have bird remains in the intestinal tracts. Standard 
mass (g) and measurements (cm) of total length 
and snout-vent length were available for most of 
the pythons examined. 
Intestinal tracts or gut contents of individual 
Burmese pythons were sent to the Feather 
Identification Laboratory, National Museum of 
Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in 
Washington, D.C. for bird species identification. 
Identification of species of birds from fragmen¬ 
tary feathers has frequently been applied to 
ecological studies of prey remains (Day 1966, 
Gilbert and Nancekivell 1982, Griffin 1982, Ward 
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