Here's a beautiful mature male snail kite (without bands) returning to the nesting area with a freshly plucked apple snail to eat. This was taken from a boat and HH, I like the POV and the framing of the bird just before the water vegetation. Snail kites forage only on apple snails and have many to choose from in addition to their native Florida apple snail. There is an invasive population of four non-indigenous apple snails that are quickly overpopulating and causing damage to wetlands bc they are devouring the vegetation in critical wetlands leaving an imbalance of plant life necessary for other species... This above snail is an invasive specie as it does not have a flat top. The apple snails lay their eggs on any hard surface above the waterline. Often you will see a beautiful mass of pink eggs attached to a stalk above the water. I have photographed the eggs in the past and have not yet seen the distinctive native apple snail egg mass. Native Florida apple snail eggs are the size of a pea and light pink to white compared to exotic eggs that are the size of a pin head, pink, and many more thousands in an egg clutch. Lastly, the invasive apple snails are reaching sexual maturity in 2-3 months and natives some 6 months. There is adaptation and overpopulation leaving the native to most likely be displaced and more crop damage by the invasives to alter aquatic ecosystems... Grrrrrhh
1Dx
840mm
HH
ISO 2000
6.3
1/3200