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There's a bird that is everywhere, but is generally under appreciated... it's the seagull. This group of 47 species is one of the most recognizable, despite there being no such species as a “seagull”. These members of the gull and tern family are common near coastal beaches and waterways. If you mention “seagull” to a Keys resident who likes to fish, they’ll tell you if you see a line of seaweed, with flocks of seagulls flying over it, chances are there will be mahi or tuna nearby.  Close-up of a “Laughing Gull”, a year-round resident of South Florida. My photos of the Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) were taken from the stern of a sightseeing boat, while touring the wooden stilt houses of Stiltsville in Miami about a mile and a half offshore Key Biscayne. These birds are named for their calls that sound like a laugh. Gulls are opportune feeders, adept at fishing and scavenging. The passengers were throwing saltines into the air, to the gulls in our wake. These superb flyers managed to catch the cracker before it (or the bird) hit the water. Key Biscayne is connected to Miami by a causeway called Rickenbacker Causeway, named after Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, the legendary WWI flying ace, Commander of the 94th Aero Squadron and innovative fighter pilot who devised new ways for how American pilots engaged the enemy. The nation cherished Capt. Rickenbacker, and he was a true American hero. After the war he started a car company, founded Florida Airways, purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Carl Fisher, and founded a comic strip called Ace Drummond. Eddie’s nickname after World War I was the ‘Ace of Aces’. But all those accomplishments pale in the eyes of Capt. Rickenbacker who was grateful for a seagull that saved his life and the lives of 6 other men who survived 21 days adrift at sea.  January 1935: Capt. Rickenbacker assisting Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, after completing her first extended flight aboard Eastern Airlines. He revolutionized air travel. In October 1942, Eddie boarded a B-17 Bomber in Hawaii headed to see General Douglas MacArthur. Capt. Rickenbacker was a passenger and envoy on this secret military mission, when the plane had a navigation malfunction, got lost, ran out of fuel, and ditched in a remote part of the Central Pacific Ocean. The crew was adrift aboard three rubber life rafts; food and water ran out after three days. On the eighth day of being lost, Rickenbacker fell asleep only to be awakened by the feel of a seagull that had landed on his head. He reached up, grabbed the bird’s feet, wrung it’s neck and it became dinner for the men. The intestines were used for bait and by using the bones as hooks, they were able to fish and survive for 13 more days. After 21 days and 400-500 miles floundering at sea the men were rescued. Capt. Rickenbacker had lost 40 pounds and was too weak to stand when he was lifted aboard the rescue plane.  Gulls are opportune feeders, adept at fishing and scavenging, even catching saltines in mid-air  He recovered and went on to achieve personal and financial success. But despite all his accomplishments, and the accolades of a nation, Rickenbacker never forgot that incident, and chose to be grateful for that one bird… a seagull… who gave hope both physically and spiritually to the survivors.. For the remainder of his life (he lived till age 82), part of “Old Ed’s” routine every Friday evening about sunset was to go to a South Florida pier with a bucket of shrimp to slowly and methodically feed the seagulls. He’d reflect on events of that fateful day a half decade earlier, and express gratitude to the bird who gave of itself without a struggle. He’d walk to the end of the pier alone, but soon would be surrounded by dozens of seagulls, screeching and squawking, flapping and fluttering and in a few short minutes the bucket was empty.  These superb flyers managed to catch the cracker before it (or the bird) hit the water. As the sun goes down, the old man whispers “thank you - thank you” to the gulls, as he lingers in thought, transported to another time and place, then turns and slowly walks home. To the unknowing, his actions would appear strange or unusual. You never know about the quiet old souls, and the great things they have done during their lifetime. Miami was grateful for Capt. Rickenbacker. In 1935, Eastern Airlines was headquartered at Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade. Eastern Airlines was the first airline to operate without a subsidy from the Federal government. Rickenbacker revolutionized air travel.  The Rickenbacker Causeway, opened in 1947, made possible public access to Key Biscayne and Crandon Park, expanding Miami-Dade’s parks and recreation opportunities. On Nov. 9, 1947 the Miami Commission dedicated “Rickenbacker Causeway,” the road connecting Miami with Key Biscayne. Rickenbacker’s good friend and commissioner Charlie Crandon was instrumental in the acquisition and expansion of parks throughout Miami-Dade, including his namesake park (Crandon Park), and the new causeway made public access possible. Rickenbacker would feed the Laughing gulls on Key Biscayne Beach until his death in 1973. Guess he had the last laugh when his prayers were answered in 1942 when the seagull saved his life.  My photos of the Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) were taken from the stern of sightseeing boat, while touring the wooden stilt houses of Stiltsville in Miami about a mile and a half offshore Key Biscayne.
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One of the things I appreciate most about living in the Upper Keys is the amount of birds and wildlife seen here every day. Everywhere I look there is life; it’s almost like nature could be taken for granted. In stark contrast to the urban areas to the north, and even in the Keys, just 100 miles south and west in Key West, there are far fewer critters. So why is it when folks visit our tropical archipelago, the first thing they want to do is go to Key West because it is on their “bucket list.” There’s a lot Key West has to offer that we lack here, such as traffic and parking problems, tacky t-shirt shops, touristy bars, and people-watching… why do you think they call it Key Weird?  Side view of an alert Blue Jay at the seed table. Yes, there is the diving and snorkeling, and the Dry Tortugas are a must see, but let's face it, what Key West is truly lacking is the Blue Jay. Cornell Ornithology eBird database lists only two reported sightings of Blue Jays in the Key West/Stock Island area in the last 10 years. The Blue Jay is one of the most familiar and recognizable birds, and is a permanent resident of eastern North America, all the way through Florida, ending at Marathon in the Florida Keys.  Blue Jays scare away other birds and devour the sunflower seeds and wild bird food provided,  Their tendency to “cache” or stash their bounty near their breeding sites, ensures against going hungry, which is why they return to the feeder for multiple helpings. So why are Blue Jays rare in Key West? It has to do with the Blue Jays’ diet. They like acorns… so much so that Blue Jays have been credited with the proliferation of oak forests in their range. The natural range for oaks in Florida ends at the mainland near Homestead. There are scattered live oak trees in the Middle and Upper Keys, these oaks having been planted since oak trees are not native here. Key West has zero oak trees and therefore no acorns. (Though I’m sure there’s a few nuts down there.)  John James Audubon painting depicted bluejays raiding a mourning dove's nest. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and insects, but they do occasionally prey on bird eggs and hatchlings. Part of the reason they can survive here is that Blue Jays are omnivorous; they have a varied diet consisting of fruit, seeds, nuts, insects, spiders and small living creatures such as mice and the eggs and hatchlings from bird nests. John James Audubon depicted jays raiding a mourning dove's nest--but stomach analyses show eggs and chicks comprise an insignificant portion of their diet.  Blue Jay close-up Anyone who has ever watched a Blue Jay at a bird feeder understands that they are voracious eaters. Blue Jays disrupt the other birds, overpowering smaller and less aggressive birds, scaring away other birds near their food. In their pursuit of never going hungry, they can collect up to six acorns at a time using their throat as a pouch to transport their cache to their breeding grounds, where they bury the acorns. Because Blue Jays don’t remember where they hide every acorn, they have been credited with propagating oak forests. Blue Jays are beautiful birds. Did you know that it is nearly impossible to differentiate between a male and female Blue Jay since males and females share the same plumage? For the gender neutral crowd, Key West sounds like the perfect spot if you were a Blue Jay. One way you are able to tell males and females apart is by their size, since male Jays are slightly larger. The world is pretty confusing these days… Not everything is as it seems. Blue Jays are not really blue! The Blue Jays feathers are actually brown but we perceive them as blue because of a phenomenon called light scattering, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs.  This is my seed table! Aggressive behavior toward another Blue Jay.  A quick loop to make sure the other bird got the message.  Now where were we? The Blue Jay resumes it’s meal. Jays have bright blue top feathers, with white underneath. Their wings and tail are streaked with black, their tail has white outer feathers. They have a black “chinstrap” from its ears down to its chest, and it’s head sports a blue crest which lays flat when the bird is at ease. The crest stands up when in an aggressive posture. Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully. The Blue Jays heavy neck muscles rival those of the woodpecker. It has a straight black bill which can pierce dense acorns or eat locusts and grasshoppers, fare usually to big for smaller birds to handle. The Blue Jay, also known as Jaybirds, are members of the crow family which explains why they are large, loud and domineering. It kind of reminds me of the characteristics we see too often in our fellow humans whom I try to avoid. What Blue Jays do is part of a natural balance and shouldn’t be judged as either good or bad.  JUST FOLKS BY EDGAR A. gUEST |
CAROL ELLIS
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