Wading Birds 



Glossy ibises first nested in the State in 1961 (Post et al. 1970, Bull 

 1964) and by 1969 had increased to about 175 pairs at five locations (Post et 

 al. 1970). In 1977 it ranked third in v;ading bird abundance on Long Island. 



Great and snowy egrets proliferated after initial nesting in the 1950 's. 

 Great egrets increased quickly during the 1960's (KB, AFN, Bull 1964, 1970), 

 but the population has remained fairly stable since 1974 (Buckley and Buckley 

 in prep.). Snowy egrets are still rapidly increasing, nearly doubling their 

 population from 1974 to 1976 (Buckley and Buckley in prep.). The growth rate 

 of the cattle egret population, a recent invader of North America, is much 

 more moderate on Long Island than in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. It 

 first nested in the State in 1970 (KB, Bull 1974), but after 7 years has 

 increased to just 15 pairs (P. and F. Buckley pers. comm.). 



The black-crowned night heron was essentially the only abundant breeding 

 wading bird species throughout the first half of the century, with six colo- 

 nies of 300 pairs or more in the 1930's (Allen 1937c). Habitat destruction 

 and pesticides probably contributed to a reduction in their numbers today to 

 less than half of those in 1935-37 (Allen 1937c, Bull 1964) but they seem to 

 be increasing again. The recent (1974-1977) totals were derived by extrapo- 

 lating the Buckleys' counts, using a 2.5 (nests per adult) factor rather than 

 the 1.0 they used. Yellow-crowned night herons have declined in recent years 

 but were never very abundant (Bull 1964, 1974). Little blue herons nested for 

 the first time in 1958 (Post 1961, Bull 1964) and have maintained low numbers, 

 decreasing between 1974 and 1976. Louisiana herons, after first nesting in 

 New York City in 1955 (Meyerriecks 1957), maintain low numbers at four colo- 

 nies (KB, AFN, P. and F. Buckley pers. comm.). Green herons, a semi-coastal 

 species, might be declining but there are no accurate censuses. 



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