GYPSY CHICKENS OF KEY WEST, FLORIDA, 3/26/18

   Key West has chickens and roosters roaming free all over the place.   These "Gypsy Chickens" are protected in Key West.  The ancestors of these chickens come from two sources.  When Cubans came to Key West they brought with them cockfighting.  Cockfighting was outlawed in the 1970's and the chickens were let loose in the streets.  At about the same time domestic chickens were losing their homes as their owners moved away.  So some forty years  later we have these Gypsy Chickens roaming free throughout Key West.

VIEWS AT MALLORY SQUARE & OTHER LOCATIONS, KEY WEST,FLORIDA, 3/26-3/27/18 -

 Dr

INTERESTING SIGHTS IN KEY WEST, FLORIDA, 3/25-3/27/18

SHARON & GEORGE AT RESTAURANT IN KEY WEST, FLORIDA, 3/26/18

GRAY CATBIRD, KEY WEST TROPICAL FOREST & BOTANICAL GARDEN,STOCK ISLAND,FLORIDA, 3/27/18

FEMALE MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD IN FLIGHT, KEY WEST TROPICAL FOREST & BOTANICAL GARDEN,STOCK ISLAND,FLORIDA,3/27/18

OVENBIRD, KEY WEST TROPICAL FOREST & BOTANICAL GARDEN,STOCK ISLAND, 3/26 & 3/27/18

   We can ID this warbler as an Ovenbird by its olive upperparts, white underparts heavily streaked with black, white eyering and a line of orange feathers running along the top of head bordered on each side by blackish-brown stripes.  The eyes are dark, the upper mandible of the bill is dark, the lower mandible is horn-colored and the bill is pointed.  The Ovenbird's legs and feet are pink.

   The Ovenbird gets its name from the shape of it's nest, which has a dome shape and side entrance that make it resemble a Dutch oven.