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Lake Champlain Colonial Waterbird Database Project
Cattle Egret
Cattle Egrets are not only relatively
new to Lake Champlain but are also new to North America. Small
colonies of Cattle Egrets have existed on the Four Brothers
Islands in New York and Young Island in Vermont although the
colony on Young Island has recently been displaced by Double-crested
Cormorants. Cattle Egrets were first documented nesting on
the Four Brothers Island in 1973 with the first nesting attempts
occurring on Young Island in 1975. Nesting Cattle Egrets were
not documented on the Four Brothers between 1982-1994. Their
renewed presence on the Four Brothers during the latter part
of the 1990's coincides with the declines of the Young Island
colony during that same time.
Estimated Number of Cattle Egret Breeding
Pairs
On Lake Champlain, 1973-2004.
| Year |
Young Island |
Four Brothers Island |
| 1973 |
|
? |
| 1975 |
3 |
|
| 1979 |
22 |
|
| 1982 |
|
0 |
| 1983 |
3 |
0 |
| 1987 |
? |
0 |
| 1988 |
? |
0 |
| 1989 |
? |
0 |
| 1990 |
? |
0 |
| 1991 |
? |
0 |
| 1992 |
? |
0 |
| 1993 |
? |
0 |
| 1994 |
? |
21 |
| 1995 |
0 |
15 |
| 1996 |
0 |
15 |
| 1997 |
0 |
3 |
| 1998 |
0 |
6 |
| 1999 |
0 |
9 |
| 2000 |
0 |
15 |
| 2001 |
0 |
7 |
| 2002 |
0 |
20 |
| 2003 |
0 |
4 |
2004 |
0 |
6 |
2005 |
0 |
3 |
2006 |
0 |
1 |
2007 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
| ?
= nesting birds present but |
|
numbers unknown. |
| Blanks
represent no data. |
Source
High Peaks Audubon Society’s annual surveys of the
Four Brothers Islands, 1982- 2002.
Unpublished data. Elizabethtown, NY.
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife annual survey data.
Unpublished. Essex Jct., VT. Return to the Lake Champlain Colonial Waterbirds home page
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