You don't need to be a birder to enjoy the extraordinary bird life at Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island. Here's what you will see and where.
Brown pelicans dive from 20 feet. Roseate spoonbills glow pink in the mangroves. Bald eagles soar over Kennedy Space Center. You don't need binoculars or a life list to appreciate this.
Brown pelicans are the signature bird of Cocoa Beach. They patrol the surf zone constantly, diving dramatically for fish. Frigatebirds — enormous prehistoric-looking birds with 7-foot wingspans — soar overhead in warm months. Royal terns, laughing gulls, ruddy turnstones and sanderlings work the waterline. Osprey nest on channel markers in the harbor. Bald eagles are seen regularly over the Banana River. On any morning beach walk you will see 20+ species without trying.
Adjacent to Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island NWR is one of the most diverse wildlife areas in the eastern United States — 330 bird species recorded. The Black Point Wildlife Drive is a 7-mile loop road through impoundments and marshes with wildlife visible from your car. Alligators, manatees, otters, sea turtles and extraordinary concentrations of birds. Free entry. Open daily. 20 minutes from Cocoa Beach.
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