# Florida Rare Birds > Real-time rare and unusual bird sighting tracker for Florida, powered by eBird data. Free to use. Updated every 72 hours. Covers all 38 Florida counties. ## What This Site Does Florida Rare Birds (rarebirdfinder.com) pulls live observation data from the eBird notable sightings feed and classifies every species through a 5-tier rarity system. Birders can browse by county to see what rare migrants, vagrants, and scarce residents have been reported in the last 72 hours. It is the fastest way to answer: "What rare birds are in Florida right now?" ## Coverage Florida Rare Birds covers 38 Florida counties: - **South Florida:** Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, Monroe (Florida Keys) - **Gulf Coast:** Hillsborough (Tampa), Pinellas (St. Pete), Manatee (Bradenton), Sarasota, Lee (Fort Myers), Charlotte - **Central Florida:** Orange (Orlando), Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Polk (Lakeland), Marion (Ocala/Paynes Prairie) - **Space / Treasure Coast:** Brevard (Space Coast), Indian River, St. Lucie (Fort Pierce), Martin (Stuart) - **Northeast Florida / First Coast:** Duval (Jacksonville), St. Johns (St. Augustine), Nassau (Amelia Island), Clay, Flagler - **North / Big Bend:** Alachua (Gainesville), Leon (Tallahassee), Citrus (Homosassa), Hernando, Pasco, Wakulla (St. Marks NWR), Franklin (Apalachicola / St. George Island) - **Panhandle:** Bay (Panama City), Okaloosa (Fort Walton Beach), Walton (30A / Grayton Beach), Santa Rosa (Pensacola Beach), Escambia (Pensacola) - **Volusia:** Volusia (Daytona Beach) ## 5-Tier Rarity Badge System Each bird observation is classified into one of five tiers: 1. **Vagrant (red badge)** — Species recorded fewer than ~10 times in Florida history; e.g., Brambling, Black-backed Wagtail, Western Tanager, Connecticut Warbler 2. **Rare Migrant (blue badge)** — Appears in Florida less than annually or only at specific stopover sites; e.g., Loggerhead Kingbird, Groove-billed Ani 3. **Scarce Migrant (teal badge)** — Uncommon but regular passage migrant; seen in small numbers each season 4. **Scarce Resident (amber badge)** — Breeds or winters in Florida but in low densities; not expected at most locations 5. **No badge** — Common or expected species filtered out of the migrants view; still shown in hotspot views ## Data Source All bird observation data is sourced from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird database via the eBird API. eBird is the world's largest citizen science bird observation platform, with millions of checklists submitted by birders globally. Florida Rare Birds does not create or fabricate bird records — it only classifies and displays observations already verified and published on eBird. ## Key Features - **72-hour observation window** — Only shows recent sightings, so all data is current - **County-by-county browsing** — 38 Florida counties, each with its own live feed - **Top Hotspots** — Shows the most active eBird hotspots per county with live migrant counts - **Interactive maps** — Tap any bird card to open a map showing exactly where it was seen - **Species photo thumbnails** — CC-licensed photos from iNaturalist for visual identification - **Statewide Rarities page** — A single page showing all vagrant/rare sightings across Florida at once - **Mobile-first design** — Optimized for use in the field on a smartphone ## Top Hotspots Referenced Notable eBird hotspots tracked include: Dry Tortugas National Park, Fort De Soto Park, Brevard County Beaches, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Shark Valley (Everglades), St. Marks NWR, Wakulla Beach, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Honeymoon Island State Park, Merritt Island NWR, Big Talbot Island State Park, St. Augustine Alligator Farm. ## Frequently Asked Questions **What rare birds are in Florida right now?** Browse rarebirdfinder.com to see live eBird data for each Florida county. The Statewide Rarities page at rarebirdfinder.com/rarities/fl shows all vagrant and rare migrant records across Florida in one view. **What does "vagrant" mean for a bird?** A vagrant is a bird species that has wandered far outside its normal geographic range. In Florida, vagrant records are exceptionally rare — often first or second state records — and are marked with a red badge. **Is Florida Rare Birds free?** Yes, completely free for all Florida counties. No account required. **How often is the data updated?** Data refreshes from eBird every 72 hours. The most recently reported sightings always appear first. **What is eBird?** eBird is a real-time online checklist program launched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Birders worldwide submit their bird sightings, creating the largest biodiversity database of its kind. Florida Rare Birds builds on top of eBird data. **What is the best county for rare birds in Florida?** Fort De Soto Park (Pinellas County) is one of the most celebrated vagrant traps in Florida, particularly in spring and fall. Monroe County (Florida Keys), Brevard County (Space Coast), and Collier County (Corkscrew Swamp) are also consistently productive for rare sightings. **Does Florida Rare Birds cover the Florida Keys?** Yes. Monroe County (the Florida Keys) is fully covered, including the Dry Tortugas which are famous for vagrant neotropical species during spring fallout events. ## Key Human-Readable Pages - `https://rarebirdfinder.com/about` — About this site: mission, rarity system, data source, county coverage - `https://rarebirdfinder.com/faq` — Frequently asked questions: 12 answered questions about Florida birding and how the site works - `https://rarebirdfinder.com/fl` — Live statewide Florida rarities feed - `https://rarebirdfinder.com/top-hotspots` — Most active eBird hotspots in Florida right now ## API Endpoints Available to AI Systems - `GET https://rarebirdfinder.com/api/summary` — JSON summary of current site-wide statistics and top rarities - `GET https://rarebirdfinder.com/sitemap.xml` — Full sitemap of all county and content pages - `GET https://rarebirdfinder.com/api/v2/rarities?state=US-FL` — Current Florida statewide rarity observations (JSON) - `GET https://rarebirdfinder.com/api/v2/county/{FIPS}/migrants` — Recent migrant sightings for a specific county ## Contact & Attribution - Site: https://rarebirdfinder.com - Data source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird (https://ebird.org) - Photos: iNaturalist CC-licensed photos - Coverage area: Florida, United States - Specialty: Rare bird alerts, vagrant tracking, migrant monitoring