Herky Huffman/Bull Creek - Wildlife
The American alligator is a common sight at Billy Lake and other area wetlands.
The flatwoods are home to resident northern bobwhites, Bachman’s sparrow, bluebirds, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises and woodpeckers, including the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. River otters and alligators are common in the forested wetlands and creeks. During migration, neotropical migrants such as yellow-bellied sapsuckers, gray catbirds and a variety of warblers add seasonal variety.
Check out other species recorded from Herky Huffman/Bull Creek WMA, or add observations of your own, by visiting the Herky Huffman/Bull Creek WMA Nature Trackers project.
Add bird observations to the Bull Creek WMA eBird Hotspot.
Wildlife Spotlight: Sandhill Crane
Cranes have long inspired the human imagination with their tall and elegant stature, longevity and complex mating and courtship behaviors. Their bugling or rattling calls are hauntingly beautiful. Florida is fortunate to attract two subspecies of the sandhill crane. Florida sandhill cranes, numbering 4,000 to 5,000, are non-migratory Florida residents. They are joined every winter by 25,000 migratory greater sandhill cranes from the Great Lakes region.
Cranes live to be at least 20 years old and form pairs that stay together for many years. They rely on shallow marshes and adjacent grasslands for food and nest sites. Nests are usually built over standing water. Within 24 hours of hatching, the young are capable of following their parents away from the nest. Together, they forage for insects, snakes, frogs and occasionally young birds or small mammals, as well as plant material such as acorns, berries and seeds.
Sandhill cranes feed on seeds, grains, insects and small animals.