Snail Kites receive an assist in the Everglades

These birds of prey with the very specialized diet of apple snails are seeing more shoreline at East Lake Tohopekaliga and Lake Tohopekaliga. The South Florida Water Management District began lowering the lake levels in mid-February to slowly expose more vegetation for nesting, an earlier start date than in previous years.

The district always lowers the lake levels to create storage capacity before hurricane season begins, but the district began working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service two years ago to help the endangered Snail Kites.


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