Snail Kites Fighting for their Home Overcoming a Horrific Storm Yasuri J. Prodromitis Saint Petersburg College Snail Kites Fighting for their Home Overcoming a Horrific Storm One of many endangered accipitrids is the Snail Kite, a local bird native to the major marshy areas of the Florida Everglades. Since making the Everglades their home, the snail-kite population has expanded around Lake Okeechobee. However, over 44 nests were destroyed due to Irma (Irma roughs up endangered Snail Kites, birds that help us gauge the Everglades' health, 2017). Having a small diet source of apple snails, the Snail Kites have slowly lost their food source due to Hurricane Irma dropping their prey population. Snail Kites will continue to be endangered and homeless unless more action is taken to clean up the damage caused by Irma and more work is done to preserve the Everglades.
There are numerous reasons why the Snail Kites that help us protect the Everglades' have become endangered. Snail Kites build their homes in bunches spread throughout the Everglades, and because of Hurricane Irma's weather conditions, about three-quarters of Snail Kites did not even nest this year (Katrina Elsken, Okeechobee News, 2017). The destruction from Irma's high winds and rainfall has caused the population of the snail kites to decrease due to multiple nests with eggs or new born chicks being destroyed. As seen in the photographs captured by Steve Newborn (2017), one can get a glimpse of the damage caused by Irma on the bird's habitat in the Everglades, which is completely stripped away with nothing but debris and treefall left behind. Also, Francis Smith (2017) from South Florida Water Management District, has as well captured the aftermath of Irma on the bird's home and commented that "It has created many problems for the wildlife and a lot of the animals are up on the levees because it's taken away their habitat" (Irma roughs up endangered Snail Kites, birds that help us gauge the Everglades' health, 2017). Aside from the pictures captured, reports have also recorded that Irma's impact has also brought many concerns to the health of the Everglades Environment, making it a main concern for many non-profit environmental organizations. Organizations have worked hard to try and maintain healthy water levels in Lake Okeechobee especially in areas that are not too dry or wet. Since there is little water storage in the area, Lake Okeechobee water levels have risen rapidly since Irma hit. This can become a major problem because "if too much water flows into the lake too quickly, miles of critical plants and vital habitat could be flooded" (Katrina Elsken, Okeechobee News, 2017). Finally, snail kites catch their prey by sneaking up on them and grasping them up with their talons. Since Hurricane Irma hit, the apple snails' population has dropped due to the damage in the Everglades, which puts the snail kites at risk because that is there main food source. Population models predict t...