PELECANIDAE (Pelicans) 
5. White Pelican ( Pelecanus ery - 
throrhynchos Gmelin) 
Commercial fishermen and others 
regard the white pelican as a rare 
migrant (£S, 30 ) . 
PHALACROCORACIDAE (Cormorants) 
6. Double-crested Cormorant 
( Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson)) 
This cormorant is an uncommon 
summer resident and migrant. The 
species was first recorded in the 
spring of 1930 ( 21) . In 1943 it be¬ 
came quite common in the Washington 
Harbor area with the introduction of 
pound nets for commercial fishing. A 
flock of these birds inhabited a rocky 
reef near Beaver Island in Washington 
Harbor in the mid-1940's (27, 30). In 
1948 and 1950 only two were seen at 
the same location (35, 36) . On July 
28, 1960, Shelton saw one cormorant 
flying high over Washington Harbor. 
ARDEIDAE (Herons and Bitterns) 
Great Blue Heron ( Ardea herodias 
Linnaeus) 
The great blue heron is a com¬ 
mon migrant but an uncommon summer 
resident. Two small rookeries are 
known, and young birds are occasion¬ 
ally seen in late summer. Several 
specimens were noted at Rock Harbor, 
Siskiwit Bay, and Washington Harbor 
in the early 1900's (21). It was 
also observed in the inland lakes, 
beaver ponds, and small islands and 
rocky reefs, as well as Passage Is¬ 
land, between 1940 and 1951 (27, 30 , 
35 , 36) . Four of these herons were 
observed in early August in 1963 at 
various locations (34). 
8. Green Heron ( Butorides vires - 
cens (Linnaeus)) 
Shelton saw a single bird at 
Hidden Lake near Tobin Harbor on 
May 30, 1963. 
**9. American Bittern ( Botaurus 
lentiginosus (Rackett)) 
This bittern is an uncommon 
summer resident and is a nester. In 
the early 1900 '.s several observation! 
were made in the Washington Harbor 
area. A nest containing one addled 
egg and two dead young birds was foufg 
on Sumner Lake (14, 22). The speciej 
was reported again in 1929 ( 21) . 
Gilbert reported in 1946 that a bit* 
tern nested in the big swamp along Bl| 
Siskiwit River and along Grace Creek 
(30). During the mid-1940's occasion 
al birds were noted in Siskiwit Bay, 
in a small marsh on Passage Island, 
and in a beaver pond near Lake Richie 
Shelton found American bitterns to be 
occasional summer residents in the 
early 1960's. 
ANATIDAE (Swans, Geese, and Ducks) 
10. Whistling Swan ( Olor Columbian^ ! 
(Ord)) 
This swan is a rare migrant. A 
single specimen was observed in the 
fall of 1930 (21). In 1963 Shelton 
saw an immature bird near Rabbit Is¬ 
land on May 27 and two others (adults 
or yearlings) in mid-June near Baker 
Point (39) . 
11. Canada Goose ( Branta canadensis 
(Linnaeus)) 
This goose is a common fall and 
spring migrant, but stops at Isle 
Royale only rarely. In the early 
1900's large flocks of these geese 
passed over Isle Royale, sometimes 
stopping a few hours at a time ( 14) . 
During the 1940's the species was 
regarded as a common migrant, often 
seen in large flocks flying over the 
island. In the spring of 1950 a 
flock of nine Canada geese was noted 
in flight over Rock Harbor ( 35) . In 
late September and early October, 
1962, three of these geese rested for 
several days around the mouth of 
Washington creek, and one very tame 
20 
