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Lake Champlain Colonial Waterbird Database Project
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Herons are common throughout
the Lake Champlain Basin. These large birds can often be seen
feeding along the lake and in adjacent wetlands. The largest
two rookeries have occurred on Valcour Island in New York
and at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Vermont. Other
small colonies can be found at Porter Bay, Vermont just north
of where the Otter Creek empties into Lake Champlain and on
the Four Brothers Islands in New York.
The Missisquoi rookery is currently the
largest colony on the lake, especially since the decline of
the Valcour Island rookery in 2006 when all nests were abandoned.
The Missisqoui rookery suffered a similar decline in 2002.
Bald eagles are suspected in the decline of the Missisquoi
rookery. Fortunately this colony has rebounded in the past
4 years and numbers have increased.
Estimated Number of Great Blue Heron
Breeding Pairs
On Lake Champlain, 1956-2004.
| Year |
Four Brothers Islands |
Missisquoi NWR |
Valcour Island |
Porters Bay |
| 1956 |
|
4 |
|
|
| 1958 |
|
0 |
|
|
| 1969 |
|
0 |
|
|
| 1971 |
|
40 |
|
|
| 1972 |
|
40 |
|
|
| 1973 |
|
|
|
|
| 1974 |
|
50 |
|
|
| 1975 |
|
100 |
|
|
| 1976 |
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
150 |
|
|
| 1978 |
|
|
|
|
| 1979 |
|
160* |
|
|
| 1980 |
|
195* |
|
|
| 1981 |
|
220* |
|
|
| 1982 |
|
240* |
|
|
| 1983 |
|
290* |
|
|
| 1984 |
|
295* |
|
|
| 1985 |
|
? |
|
|
| 1986 |
|
282* |
|
|
| 1987 |
|
300* |
|
|
| 1988 |
|
250* |
|
|
| 1989 |
|
214* |
|
|
| 1990 |
|
231* |
|
|
| 1991 |
|
270* |
|
|
| 1992 |
|
? |
|
|
| 1993 |
3 |
? |
|
|
| 1994 |
2 |
? |
|
|
| 1995 |
3 |
? |
|
|
| 1996 |
27 |
? |
|
|
| 1997 |
12 |
? |
|
|
| 1998 |
23 |
? |
|
|
| 1999 |
39 |
581 |
|
32 |
| 2000 |
21 |
560 |
|
? |
| 2001 |
7 |
350 |
544 |
? |
| 2002 |
11 |
150 |
421 |
93 |
| 2003 |
? |
192 |
369* |
101 |
2004 |
24 |
275 |
? |
? |
2005 |
? |
266 |
? |
? |
2006 |
26 |
289 |
? |
? |
2007 |
25 |
~250 |
? |
? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ?
= nesting birds present but numbers unknown. |
| *
= counts considered to be underestimates as a result
|
|
of survey methods |
|
|
| Blank
spaces represent no data. |
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Source
High Peaks Audubon Society’s annual surveys of the
Four Brothers Islands, 1982- 2002.
Unpublished data. Elizabethtown, NY.
Hill, M. 1999. Herons and Cormorants on Shad Island, Vermont.
Unpubl. data.
University of Vermont. Burlington, VT.
Richards, Z. and D. Capen. 2001. An Inventory of the Great Blue Heron Rookery
on Valcour Island, 2001.
Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge annual survey data. Unpublished. Swanton,
VT.
University of Vermont annual surveys of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge.
Unpublished data. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Return to the Lake Champlain Colonial Waterbirds home page
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