2010 Heron Surveys
During 2010 only a subset of our sites are being surveyed by existing and already trained volunteers. Please stay tuned for the 2011 field season!!!
For more information contact Nellie Tsipoura
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This project is a collaborative effort of New Jersey Audubon
Society (NJAS) and New
York City Audubon, to look at movements of
birds between breeding and foraging sites and to
determine the importance of different foraging areas.
Results of this survey
will fill gaps in knowledge identified by the New Jersey
Wildlife Action Plan for coastal areas in the Hackensack
Meadowlands and the Raritan Bay conservation zones of
the Piedmont Plains. In addition, it will provide
information needed for the Harbor Heron Conservation
Plan, which in turn will help ensure persistence of
these charismatic birds.
In addition to the
important ecological information on the status of a
natural resource to allow for appropriate management
decisions, this project will raise awareness and engage
the public in understanding and more actively conserving
wildlife.
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Photo by: Art Morris
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Because their nesting sites
are conspicuous with hundreds of nests, more is known about
their breeding behavior than is known about their
foraging habitats and activities. Since 1985, nine wading
bird species have bred on island colonies in the NY/NJ Harbor:
Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Little
Blue Heron, Green Heron, and Tri-colored Heron. All of these
species are NJ species of greatest conservation concern (SGCN),
and the two night-herons are NJ listed as state threatened.
These birds currently breed on several islands in the harbor,
including Hoffman Island, Canarsie Pol, and South and North
Brother Islands.
Flight line observations of the birds as they leave the breeding
colonies reveal that the herons use New Jersey wetlands
extensively to forage. For example, birds from North and
South Brother Islands fly over Manhattan and the Hudson River to
forage in the tidal mudflats of New Jersey's Meadowlands, while
birds from Hoffman have been observed crossing Staten Islands to
forage in Arthur Kill and the Raritan River basin (NYCA
unpublished data).
Recently, the NJAS Research Department
completed a 2-year comprehensive survey of avifauna in the NJ
Meadowlands District. This survey recorded over 100 individual
sightings of the state listed Black-crowned Night Heron, and
over 500 sightings of Great and Snowy Egret. 
2008 Heron Surveys
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Specific
objectives:
(1) to
determine the abundance and distribution of long-legged
colonial waterbirds at various sites and habitats IN the
NJ Meadowlands and at Raritan Bay and to identify areas
used as foraging grounds
(2) to mobilize and
coordinate citizen scientists to conduct observations of
colonial waterbirds, thereby engaging them in nature
study and creating stewards of the birds and habitat of
the NJ Meadowlands.
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Photo by:
Steve Mattan
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2008 Sightings
A Glossy Ibis chicks banded on Hoffman Island
during the 2008 breeding season was seen in Lancaster, PA from
8/08-8/15. It was by itself and hung out for a few days, mostly
feeding among the mudflats. See attached for pictures of the
little guy, one from the day we banded him on July 1st and the
other from when he was spotted in PA.
For more information contact:
Nellie Tsipoura