ABSTRACT 



From March to July 1976 and 1977, biologists from the Maine and Massachusetts Cooperative Wildlife 

 Research Units conducted coastal surveys of all seabird and wading bird nesting colonies from the Maine- 

 Canada border to the southern boundary of Virginia. In 10 States, 844 colony sites containing from 1 to 16 

 species were located. A total of 327,496 nesting pairs of waterbirds was found in habitat ranging from 

 woodland swamps to sandy barrier islands. 



All colony sites are numbered and located on 7.5-minute quadrangle maps. In a Table following each 

 map, the colony sites are described in terms of location, island and colony size, nest substrate, ownership, 

 nesting species, inventory date, the estimated number of breeding pairs and the inventory method for each 

 species. 



KEY WORDS 



Waterbirds 

 Coastal 

 Seabirds 

 Wading birds 

 Storm petrels 

 Cormorants 

 Herons 

 Egrets 



Ibises 



Eiders 



Gulls 



Terns 



Skimmers 



Alcids 



Maine-Virginia 



Survey 



Maps 



Nesting colonies 



Species composition 



Inventory method 



May-June 



Bird populations 



The correct citation for this report is: 



Erwin, R. M. and C. E. Korschgcn. 1979. Coastal waterbird colonies: Maine to Virginia, 1977. An atlas 

 showing colony locations and species composition. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Services 

 Program, FWS/OBS-79/08. 



