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MIAMI - The number of wading bird nests in the Everglades dropped by more than half in 2003, according to a new survey, but scientists said the numbers were anticipated following the biggest boom in bird breeding in more than a half-century.
"This is nothing out of the ordinary for the Everglades," said Dale Gawlik, an assistant professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University. "The fact that we have bad years coming on the heels of good years, that's perfectly normal."
The report found there were 33,739 nests from Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County through Broward County's western water conservation marshes into the islands of Florida Bay. That figure was down from nearly 70,000 breeding pairs found in 2002.
But the findings were about triple typical counts from the 1990s, representing a steady rebound for the Everglades, said Gaea Crozier, an environmental scientist with the South Florida Water Management District.
Scientists said the 2002 totals approached historic highs of the 1930s and 1940s.