Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Landscape influence on the quality of heron and egret colony sites

  • Published:
Wetlands Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We evaluated landscape associations related to heron and egret colony site selection and the productivity of successful great blue heron (Ardea herodias) and great egret (Ardea alba) nests. The study was based on annual observations (1991–2005) at 45 colony sites known to be active within 10 km of historic tidal marshes of northern San Francisco Bay. The analyses focused on a priori models analyzed within 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 km of colony sites, using the areal extents of several NOAA land cover types (Landsat images, 2000–2002), number of wetland patches, and total wetland edge as predictor variables. A comparison of landscape characteristics surrounding colony sites with those surrounding randomly selected, unoccupied sites revealed the primary importance of estuarine emergent wetland and open water within 1 km of colony sites. Increased productivity in successful great blue heron nests was associated with more estuarine emergent wetland, open water, and low-intensity development, and less grassland, but was not differentially related to the extent of habitat available within any particular distance from colony sites. The productivity in successful great egret nests was associated with variation in habitat extent at larger spatial scales, especially within 10 km of heronies, with nests producing more young at sites surrounded by more estuarine emergent wetland and low-intensity development, less open water and palustrine emergent wetland, and more patches of wetland habitat. To estimate landscape foraging patterns, we used aircraft to track the flights of great egrets departing from heronries and used the observed flight distances, colony sizes, and the regional distribution of wetland habitat to model regional foraging densities. Results suggested that increasing the extent of wetland feeding areas for herons and egrets might improve reproductive performance in colony sites up to 10 km away, increase foraging by herons and egrets in created or restored wetlands within 3–10 km of sites, and enhance nest abundance at colony sites within 1 km of restoration sites. Regional maps based on the distribution of colony-sites and predictions of landscape influences on colony site selection, nest productivity, and foraging dispersion, suggested areas potentially suitable for colonization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Bancroft, G. T., D. E. Gawlik, and K. Rutchey. 2002. Distribution of wading birds relative to vegetation and water depths in the northern Everglades of Florida, USA. Waterbirds 25: 265–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, G. T., A. M. Strong, R. J. Sawicki, W. Hoffman, and S. D. Jewell. 1994. Relationships among wading bird foraging patterns, colony locations, and hydrology in the Everglades. p. 615–57. In S. Davis and J. C. Ogden (eds.) Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batzer, D. P., R. Cooper, and S. A. Wissinger. 2006. Wetland animal ecology. p. 242–84. In D. P. Batzer and R. R. Sharitz (eds.) Ecology of Freshwater and Estuarine Wetlands. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, D. L., R. G. Osborn, and T. W. Custer. 1980. Nest-site and colony characteristics of wading birds in selected Atlantic Coast colonies. Wilson Bulletin 92: 200–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham, K. P. and D. R. Anderson. 2002. Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, R. W. 1994. Population regulation of wading ciconiiform birds. Colonial Waterbirds 17: 189–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, R. W. 1995. The patient predator: foraging and population ecology of the Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias in British Columbia. Occasional Paper No. 86, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Custer, C. M. and J. Galli. 2002. Feeding habitat selection by Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets nesting in east central Minnesota. Waterbirds 25: 115–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Custer, T. W. and R. Osborn. 1978. Feeding habitat use by colonially breeding herons, egrets and ibises in North Carolina. Auk 95: 733–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Custer, T. W., R. G. Osborn, and W. F. Stout. 1980. Distribution, species abundance, and nesting-site use of Atlantic Coast colonies of herons and their allies. Auk 97: 591–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowd, E. M. and L. D. Flake. 1985. Foraging habitats and movements of nesting Great Blue Herons in a prairie river ecosystem, South Dakota. Journal of Field Ornithology 56: 379–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erwin, R. M. 1983. Feeding habitats of nesting wading birds: spatial use and social influences. Auk 100: 960–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESRI. 2005. ArcGIS 9.1. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fasola, M. and R. Alieri. 1992a. Conservation of heronry Ardeidae sites in North Italian agricultural landscapes. Biological Conservation 62: 219–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fasola, M. and R. Alieri. 1992b. Nest site characteristics in relation to body size in herons in Italy. Colonial Waterbirds 15: 185–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, P. C. 2002. Wading birds in the marine environment. p. 617–55. In E. A. Schreiber and J. Burger (eds.) Biology of Marine Birds. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, P. C., R. Bjork, G. T. Bancroft, and G. V. N. Powell. 1992. Reproductive success of three species of herons relative to habitat in southern Florida. Colonial Waterbirds 15: 192–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, P. C. and M. W. Collopy. 1989. Nesting success of five Ciconiiform species in relation to water conditions in the Florida Everglades. Auk 106: 625–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, P. C. and G. V. N. Powell. 1994. Nutrient transport by wading birds in the Everglades. p. 571–84. In S. Davis and J. C. Ogden (eds.) Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furness, R. W. and T. R. Birkhead. 1984. Seabird colony distributions suggest competition for food supplies during the breeding season. Nature 311: 655–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gawlik, D. E. 2002. The effects of prey availability on the numerical response of wading birds. Ecological Monographs 72: 329–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, R. C. 1954. The contiguity ratio and statistical mapping. Incorporated Statistician 5: 115–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J. P. 1991. Spatial relationships between nesting colonies and foraging areas of Great Blue Herons. Auk 108: 764–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J. P. and L. K. Kinkel. 1997. Determinants of the size and location of Great Blue Heron colonies. Colonial Waterbirds 20: 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J. P., S. Woodward, M. L. Hunter, and A. E. Hutchinson. 1987. Determinants of Great Blue Heron colony distribution in coastal Maine. Auk 104: 38–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, M. H. 2003. Confronting multicollinearity in ecological multiple regression. Ecology 84: 2809–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grüll, A. and A. Ranner. 1998. Populations of the Great Egret and Purple Heron in relation to ecological factors in the reed belt of the Neusiedler See. Colonial Waterbirds 21: 328–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horn, C. W. 1983. Foraging ecology of herons in a southern San Francisco Bay salt marsh. Colonial Waterbirds 6: 37–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keating, K. A. and S. Cherry. 2004. Use and interpretation of logistic regression in habitat selection studies. Journal of Wildlife Management 68: 774–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. P., K. Etienne, C. Strong, M. McCaustland, and M. L. Parkes. 2006. Annotated Atlas and Implications for the Conservation of Heron and Egret Nesting Colonies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Audubon Canyon Ranch, Marshall, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. P., K. Etienne, C. Strong, M. McCaustland, and M. L. Parkes. 2007. Status, trends, and implications for the conservation of heron and egret nesting colonies in the San Francisco Bay area. Waterbirds 30: 455–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. P., H. M. Pratt, and P. L. Greene. 1993. The distribution, reproductive success, and habitat characteristics of heron and egret breeding colonies in the San Francisco Bay area. Colonial Waterbirds 16: 18–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kushlan, J. A. and J. A. Hancock. 2005. The Herons. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lack, D. 1947. The significance of clutch-size. Ibis 89: 302–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lack, D. 1954. The Natural Regulation of Animal Numbers. Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manly, B. F. J. 1997. Randomization, Bootstrap and Monte Carlo Methods in Biology. Chapman & Hall, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marion, L. 1989. Territorial feeding and colonial breeding are not mutually exclusive: the case of the Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea). Journal of Animal Ecology 58: 693–710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Master, T. L. 1992. Composition, structure, and dynamics of mixed-species foraging aggregations in a southern New Jersey salt marsh. Colonial Waterbirds 15: 66–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mauchamp, A., P. Chauvelon, and P. Grillas. 2002. Restoration of floodplain wetlands: opening polders along a coastal river in Mediterranean France, Vistre marshes. Ecological Engineering 18: 619–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrimmon, D. A., Jr., J. C. Ogden, and G. T. Bancroft. 2001. Great Egret (Ardea alba). In A. Poole and F. Gill (eds.) The Birds of North America, No. 570. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal, K. and B. J. Marks. 1995. FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-351.

  • Mock, D. W. and L. S. Forbes. 1994. Life-history consequences of avian brood reduction. Auk 111: 115–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mock, D. W., T. C. Lamey, and B. J. Ploger. 1987. Proximate and ultimate roles of food amount in regulating egret sibling aggression. Ecology 68: 1760–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nemeth, E., P. Bossew, and C. Plutzar. 2005. A distance dependent estimation of foraging ranges of neighboring bird colonies. Ecological Modeling 182: 67–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NOAA. 2000. Pacific Coast land cover. The Coastal Change Analysis Program, NOAA Coastal Services Center. http://: www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/ccap_index.html.

  • Palmer, M. A., R. F. Ambrose, and N. L. Poff. 1997. Ecological theory and community restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 5: 291–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parnell, J. F., D. G. Ainley, H. Blokpoel, B. Cain, T. W. Custer, J. L. Dusi, S. Kress, J. A. Kushlan, W. E. Southern, L. E. Stenzel, and B. C. Thompson. 1988. Colonial waterbird management in North America. Colonial Waterbirds 11: 129–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parris, R. W. and G. A. Grau. 1978. Feeding sites of Great Blue Herons in southwestern Lake Erie. Proceedings of the Colonial Waterbird Group 1: 110–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, G. V. N. 1983. Food availability and reproduction by Great White Herons, Ardea hevodias: a food addition study. Colonial Waterbirds 6: 139–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, H. M. 1970. Breeding biology of Great Blue Herons and Common Egrets in central California. Condor 72: 407–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, H. M. and D. W. Winkler. 1985. Clutch size, timing of laying, and reproductive success in a colony of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. Auk 102: 49–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, J. A., Jr. 1983. Foraging behavior of seven species of herons in Tampa Bay, Florida. Colonial Waterbirds 6: 11–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project. 1999. Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, San Francisco, California/San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Oakland, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • San Francisco Estuary Institute. 1998. Bay Area EcoAtlas, Version 1.5, b4. San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schabenberger, O. and C. A. Gotway. 2005. Statistical Methods for Spatial Data Analysis. Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, K., J. N. M. Smith, and J. P. Kelsall. 1987. Correlates and consequences of coloniality in great blue herons. Canadian Journal of Zoology 65: 572–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. P. 1995. Foraging flights and habitat use of nesting wading birds (Ciconiiformes) at Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Colonial Waterbirds 18: 139–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statacorp. 2005. Stata statistical software: release 9.0. Statacorp, College Station, TX, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strong, A. M., G. T. Bancroft, and S. D. Jewell. 1997. Hydrological constraints on Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret resource use. Condor 99: 894–905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Bay Institute. 2004. Developing an index of habitat recovery for San Francisco Bay. http://www.bay.org/ecological_scorecard. htm. The Bay Institute, Novato, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Bay Institute. 2005. The Bay Institute ecological scorecard: 2005 San Francisco Bay Index. http://www.bay.org/ecological_ scorecard.htm). The Bay Institute, Novato, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D. H. 1978. Feeding areas of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets nesting within the floodplain of the upper Mississippi River. Proceedings of the Colonial Waterbird Group 2: 202–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tourenq, C., S. Benhamou, N. Sadoul, A. Sandoz, F. Mesleard, J. Martin, and H. Hafner. 2004. Spatial relationships between tree-nesting heron colonies and rice fields in Camargue, France. Auk 121: 192–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trocki, C. L. and P. W. C. Paton. 2006. Assessing habitat selection by foraging egrets in salt marshes at multiple spatial scales. Wetlands 26: 307–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden, M. J., J. D. Olden, and C. Gratton. 2006. Foodweb approaches in restoration ecology. p. 165–89. In D. A. Falk, M. A. Palmer, and J. B. Zedler (eds.) Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Vessem, J., D. Draulans, and A. F. de Bont. 1984. Movements of radio-tagged Gray Herons Ardea cinevea during the breeding season in a large pond area. Ibis 126: 576–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittenberger, J. F. and G. L. Hunt, Jr. 1985. The adaptive significance of coloniality in birds. Avian Biology 8: 1–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zedler, J. B. 2001. Handbook for Restoring Tidal Wetlands. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cypress Grove Research Center, Audubon Canyon Ranch, P. O. Box 808, 94940, Marshall, California, USA

    John P. Kelly, Katie Etienne & Mark McCaustland

  2. PRBO Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Drive #11Petaluma, 94954, California, USA

    Diana Stralberg

Authors
  1. John P. Kelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Diana Stralberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Katie Etienne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mark McCaustland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John P. Kelly.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kelly, J.P., Stralberg, D., Etienne, K. et al. Landscape influence on the quality of heron and egret colony sites. Wetlands 28, 257–275 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1672/07-152.1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1672/07-152.1

Key Words

Search

Navigation