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10 places to see Florida wildlife in the winter

Between Florida's 175 state parks and 11 national parks, you'd be hard-pressed not to find wildlife.
Credit: Getty Images
White pelican

Wildlife is abundant in Florida year round, but winter can be the perfect time to head outdoors and enjoy the mild weather while animal watching.

And between the state's 175 state parks and 11 national parks, plus dozens of preserves, springs and rivers, you'd be hard-pressed not to spot some sort of wildlife in the winter.

Florida winter bucket list: Sand snowmen, orange picking, lighted boat parades

Here are 10 of the best places to check out.

White pelicans

These “ultimate snowbirds” are shyer than their cousins, brown pelicans, which are more common year-round in Florida. White pelicans usually arrive in the Sunshine State in the fall and stay until the spring. However, there are plenty of places where you could spot this pink-billed white birds: Homosassa Springs, Crystal River, Hillsborough River State Park, Zephyrhills Park, Fort De Soto Park, Boca Ciega Bay, Circle B Bar Reserve, Lake Mirror and Lake Howard.

Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River

This 57-acre oasis is one of the prime viewing spots for manatees year round. These gentle giants inhabit the springs in the highest numbers from mid-November to late March. The springs said the highest number its ever seen was around 400-500 manatees in January 2016.

More information here.

Everglades National Park

This park is a given, with its 2,500 square miles of swamp filled with alligators, fish and birds like blue herons and egrets. The Everglades is also home to some small deer, skunks, bobcats and foxes. Watch out for those non-native pythons, though.

More information here.

Weedon Island Preserve, St. Petersburg

The historic preserve has more than 3,000 acres of aquatic and wetland ecosystems. You could spend hours exploring its boardwalks and dirt walking trails looking for gopher tortoises, roseate spoonbills, alligators, ospreys, wading birds and snakes.

More information here.

Hillsborough River State Park, Thonotosassa

This state park’s seven miles of natures trails are living history lessons, teaching about the time soldiers use to guard the important river crossing. The thousands of acres of live oak hammock, cypress swamps and freshwater marshes of this park are home to otters, foxes, bobcats, alligators, turtles and even feral hog on occasion.

More information here.

Sawgrass Lake Park, St. Petersburg

This small park tucked away between a neighborhood and Interstate 275 is chock full of alligators. Throughout its 400 acres, you can find wood storks, herons, egrets, turtles and thousands of other birds that migrate to the park in the fall. Drive slow through the neighborhood heading into the park, the area is home to a small family of peacocks.

More information here.

Rainbow River Springs State Park, Dunnellon

The clear blue waters of Rainbow Springs are part of history that dates back thousands of years. Rainbow River is one of the best places in Florida to see river otters along with plenty of fish and water birds. Rainbow River Kayak Adventures even said it’s considered the “Bass Capital of the World.”

More information here.

Big Bend Power Station, Apollo Beach

Not a state park, but Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station has seen manatees gathering in large numbers in the winter since 1986. Whenever the water in Tampa Bay gets 68 degrees or cooler, manatees flock to the warm waters of the station’s discharge canal. The Manatee Viewing Center and viewing tower are open from Nov. 1 through April 15.

More information here.

Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland

This former cattle ranch in Lakeland boasts more than 1,000 acres of ecosystems, plants and animals. The Oak hammock, freshwater wetlands and banana creek marsh are full of wild turkeys, hawks, alligators, eagles, owls, white pelicans, bobcats, gray foxes, frogs and snakes.

More information here.

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

Nowhere else in Florida can you see wild horses and bison roaming around. The preserve just south of Gainesville is home to nearly 300 species of birds along with alligators, deer and in some years, flocks of sandhill cranes.

More information here.

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