Able to grow on poor soils and withstand hurricane-force winds, it can live for more than 100 years. Many distinctive Cuban birds and other creatures find shelter in these fronds. One, the black-cowled oriole, a mellifluous songster, is a skilled artisan. It weaves its baglike nest beneath the stout leaves using fibers collected from other palm fronds. Two other members of the blackbird family, the Cuban blackbird and Greater Antillean grackle, conceal cup-shaped nests amidst the dense palm crowns.
Kestrels use the young, upward-facing leaves as a lookout point.
Northern mockingbirds perch in the horizontal, middle-aged fronds and serenade potential mates. Anole lizards, bats and a variety of insects find shelter in the palm's older, drooping fronds. In the dense, leafy globe, bare-legged owls and Cuban pygmy owls find refuge from predators and a shady resting place. Other creatures find cozy shelters or nesting sites in the soft trunk of dead sabal palms. Four different kinds of woodpeckers drill out cavities in the palm, and other birds inherit or steal these holes from the woodpeckers.