Nation’s roseate spoonbill expert flies into Cape Haze
Jerry Lorenz, state director of research for Florida Audubon, will be in Cape Haze to speak on roseate spoonbills on Thursday, April 11.
“I had no intention of studying spoonbills, but as you start looking at what these things mean, I actively wanted to make the Everglades healthier and the way to do that is to tell the story of the food chain,” said Lorenz. The talk is entitled, “Roseate spoonbills in Florida Bay – a pink canary in a coal mine.”
Lorenz has been studying spoonbills for more than 30 years. He first came here as a graduate student to study the food resources of wading birds in Florida Bay during nesting season. They discovered that spoonbills are a primary indicator of ecosystem health and tracked nest productivity all the way down the food chain to Everglades water quality.
Lorenz has also decided to include flamingos in his presentation as they have become such a popular topic since last August, when Hurricane Idalia blew many in from the south.
“Both of these big pink birds are fascinating in their own right and in different ways,” he said.
The event is at 6 p.m. on Thursday April 11. It will be held at the Cape Haze Community Center, 180 Spyglass Alley, Placida.
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