Bird Fossils

Florida’s record of fossil birds stretches back to the early Miocene epoch approx. 20 million years ago. At that time, most familiar Florida bird types had made an appearance but were still ancestral to modern day species. Moving forward in time over millions of years, Florida bird species continued to take on a more modern look. By the end of the last ice-age approximately 10,000 years ago, most modern species we see in Florida today were present.

Bird limb bones
Pleistocene epoch
Indian River County, Fla.

Turkey leg spurs
Pleistocene epoch
Peace River
Hardee County, Fl.