Florida Endangered News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The threatened Florida Scrub-Jay would replace the Northern Mockingbird as Florida’s official state bird if a new bill filed in the legislature becomes law. Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton, filed SB 162 earlier this month in her attempt to elevate the Florida Scrub-Jay. It would remove the Mockingbird, which has been the Sunshine State’s official bird since 1927. Polsky’s bill ...

Fritz Eugene, 67, has been arrested for torturing a federally protected great blue heron to death by cutting off the birds legs and slitting its throat all in front of his distraught son.

Fritz Eugene, 67, is accused of fatally stabbing the federally protected heron after he brought it back to his Port St. Lucie home following a fishing trip last Friday, police said.

A couple wants to build a home in Palm Coast Plantation that would partly violate an existing eagle-protection zone.

Rarely seen or heard, the black rail's habitat is disappearing rapidly as climate change and development continue to destroy wetlands.  "This is a good thing," said James Beever, a former state biologist who observed the birds in the wild. "They should also designate critical habitat areas for it."  Beever was not at the meeting.  Rising sea levels are pushing many coastal wetland areas inland as waters rise.  Plus, some of the birds' preferred habitat has already been converted to homes and golf course communities.  "They stay to the dense overhead vegetation and are like mice in the ma...