The South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently celebrated the completion of the Kissimmee River restoration, one of the largest ecosystem restoration projects in the world. While providing excellent navigation and flood control benefits, the previous channelization of the river left the ecosystem with major negative consequences for native birds and wildlife. The restoration effort restored more than 40 square miles of the river floodplain ecosystem, 44 miles of the historic river channel and 20,000 acres of wetlands.
Did you know the South Florida Water Management District uses GPS to track wading birds to better understand riverine and wetland ecosystems in the Kissimmee River floodplain? The District is currently engaged in a study that locates, tags and tracks the movements of wading birds such as White Ibis along the Kissimmee River floodplain. Wading birds are useful indicators of their ecological integrity, which is a primary goal of the Kissimmee River Restoration Project.
The birds are studied in an effort to provide important information:
- Detailed data of their movements, including where they roost, likely breed, and how far from the Kissimmee River these birds move.
- Identifying regionally important foraging and breeding locations to help scientifically guide efforts to understand critical habitat sites.
This study will also help determine the extent to which wading birds forage on the restored Kissimmee River floodplain during the breeding season (January-June), when energetic demands are greatest. Results so far are showing promising results for Kissimmee River restoration, with wading birds returning to their historic foraging sites.
Additional restoration activities are ongoing to continue improving the larger Kissimmee River ecosystem, including conservation of lands in the watershed and enhanced operations of the river's headwaters. All studies of wading birds and other wildlife are completed under appropriate state and federal wildlife permits.