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These are not projects of NYSOA. This information is
provided for birders who may encounter marked birds.
Great
Egrets banded on Motor Island, Niagara River UPDATED 7/16/11
PROJECT
UPDATE - from Bill Watson, July 15, 2011:
 50 young Great Blue Herons and over 100 young Great Egrets from three
sites in Lake Huron have been marked with Green or Orange wing-tags
in the last month; each tag carries a unique number-letter combination.
New York birders are asked to watch for these birds and send details of any
sightings (date, time, location, observer, color of tag and
number-letter combination) to
.
Also, please report any evening roosting sites and feeding aggregations
of 6 or more birds.
PROJECT
UPDATE - Update
from Bill Watson, July 17, 2010:
Unfortunately, the NYSDEC was unable to band Great Egrets on Motor Island in the Niagara River this June because of the early nesting due to our unusually warm March and April and other priorities such a cormorant control. However, in late June, orange wing-tags were placed on nearly 100 young Great Egrets at Chantry and Nottawasaga colonies near Southampton and Collingwood in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. (Five Great Blue Herons were also banded.) Earlier this year, the two sites had 66 and 126 egret nests, respectively. Since Georgian Bay Great Egrets in the past have been observed at Tonawanda WMA, Montezuma NWR and other New York locations, New York Birders are urged to watch for egrets with these orange wing-tags as they disperse from these colonies and pass through New York. The large orange wing-tags are very visible and there are two numbers and a letter written on each tag to identify individual birds. If you observe one of these birds, please record the characters on the tag, the date and location of your sighting and the number of egrets in the group and your name and send them to Chip Weseloh at .
July 7th Brendan Kick and I found a Great Egret with a red band above the “knee” on the left leg and were able to red the band code on his photo, so do not forget to look for egrets with RED BANDS usually ABOVE THE ‘KNEE’ ON THE LEFT LEG this summer. The three letter-number code can usually be read with a scope. Please send the information to Chip and/or me at
. I would be interested in those orange wing-tags also.
PROJECT
UPDATE - from Bill Watson, July 30, 2008:
On
June 13, 2008, twenty-two nestling Great Egrets were color-banded at
the heron colony on Motor Island in the Niagara River by Dr. David Moore,
of the Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario Region, Connie Adams, Senior
Wildlife Biologist, and Tom Summerville, summer intern, both of the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Once
again I will be asking for birders to look for Great Egrets with RED
BANDS WITH WHITE LETTER-NUMBERS USUALLY ABOVE THE “KNEE” OF
THE LEFT LEG AND THE TRADITIONAL ALUMINUM BAND ABOVE THE “ANKLE” OF
THE RIGHT LEG. The band code on the red band can usually be read with
a spotting scope, as the letter-numbers are nearly an inch high. In addition
to the 22 egrets banded at Motor Island 111 nestling Great Egrets were
banded in a similar manner at Georgian Bay this June.
Although
in the past most of the color banded Great Egrets are found in New York
between the Niagara River and Montezuma NWR, in Ontario near the north
shore of Lake Erie, and in Ohio at Conneaut Harbor, these young egrets
could show up anywhere. Preliminary evidence suggests most of these birds
disperse randomly with an eastern bias, later they probably migrate south
along or near the Atlantic coast of the United States, but we do not
have the expected resightings from the Hudson Mohawk valleys or from
Pennsylvania.
Many
of the adults started their post-breeding dispersal at the end of June
this year. The first banded fledglings disperse from Motor Island in
July observers start seeing these banded fledglings at the end of July.
The months of August and September contain the most resightings of these
young egrets; however, were have had winter resightings in North Carolina,
Florida, Cuba, and the Azores! That’s right, one of these young
egrets wintered in the Azores islands off Portugal and was well photographed
and well documented!
If
you see any color-banded Great Egrets, please record the date, location,
number of other egrets with them, and, if possible, the letter(s) and
number(s) of the banding code, so we can better document the dispersal
pattern of these fledglings. Report all sighting of Great Egret with
red color-bands to at least one of the following locations.
Chip Weseloh
Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario Region
4905 Dufferin St.
Downsview, Ontario
M3H 5T4
Phone: 416-739-5846
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Connie Adams
NYSDEC
270 Michigan Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone (716) 851-7010
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PROJECT UPDATE - Summary of
update from Bill Watson, July 21, 2006:
Chip Weseloh has banded over 500 Great Egrets with red left leg bands
in the last five years. More than 100 Great Egrets were colour-banded
with red plastic bands at Nottawasaga Island (near Collingwood) this summer.
The bands have various letters and numbers, in white, on them. In addition
to these birds there are about 75 Great Egrets banded in recent years
in Western NY on Motor Island in the Niagara River. Please continue
to look for Great Egrets with leg bands as described for these projects.
Please try to read the number and send it and the location to:
Chip Weseloh
Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario Region
4905 Dufferin St.
Downsview, Ontario
M3H 5T4
Phone: 416-739-5846
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Bill Watson
771 Fletcher Street
Tonawanda, NY 14150
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PROJECT UPDATE from
Bill Watson on NYSBIRDS-L on September 10, 2002:
[Since the twenty Great Egret nestlings were banded,] there have been
FOUR REPORTS of Great Egrets with red leg bands in NEW YORK STATE: The
first was received July 27 from Jim Kimball of a Great Egret with a
Red Leg Band matching a Motor Island code at Cuylerville, NY in Livingston
County. August 8 2002 a red banded egret was observed in Lancaster,
NY in Erie County. On September 1 (Brenda Best) and September 2 (Mike
Morgante) recorded the number-letters on the red band of a Great Egret
in the Mays Point Pool at Montezuma NWR.
ORIGINAL POST (summary
by Bill Watson)
Great Egrets banded
on Motor Island, Niagara River, 2002
(Red band with white 3-digit
alphanumeric code)
On June 17, 2002 between 11:00 am and 1:00 PM, twenty nestling Great
Egrets were banded at the heron colony on Motor Island in Niagara River
by Dr. D. V. Chip Weseloh, Wildlife Biologist for Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario
Region, Mark Kandel, Senior Wildlife Biologist for the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation, and myself. I had requested
that the Great Egrets be color banded in the hope that we might be able
to learn something about the post breeding dispersal and migration of
these young Great Egrets. There are many possibilities. They could migrate
east through Iroquois NWR and Montezuma NWR to the Atlantic Flyway. On
July 28, 2002 one egret banded this way was observed in the Finger Lakes
region of Region 2.
Please look for Great Egrets with leg bands above the "knee"
of the left leg that are RED WITH WHITE LETTER(S) AND NUMBERS. They
also have the traditional aluminum bands on the right leg above the
"ankle." If you see any please, if possible record the letter(s)
and numbers.
Great Egrets banded on
Southern Georgian Bay (Lake Huron), Ontario, 2001
(Red band with white 3-digit
alphanumeric code)
Great Egrets were banded with coloured plastic leg-bands
on an island in southern Georgian Bay (Lake Huron), Ontario. The bands
are red with white numbers and letters, e.g. A10.
New York Harbor
Colonial Waterbird Study, 2011 UPDATED 8/31/11
PROJECT
UPDATE - from Susan Elbin, August 31, 2011:
We continue to color band long-legged wading birds as part of a foraging study project with New York City Audubon and New Jersey Audubon. Since 2008, we have color-banded Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Glossy Ibis, and Double-crested Cormorant. The number in parentheses is the total number banded to date.
Great Egret (140)
Left Leg: WHITE leg bands etched with 2-digit BLACK alpha numeric code
GREEN leg bands etched with 2-digit BLACK alpha numeric code
Right Leg: USFWS metal band
Snowy Egret (29)
Left Leg: YELLOW leg bands etched with 2-digit BLACK alpha numeric code
BLUE leg bands etched with 2 -digit WHITE alpha numeric code
Right Leg: USFWS metal band
Please keep an eye out for banded birds. In addition to the band information, please record the date, location, and number of (other) birds. These data will help us better document the dispersal pattern of these fledglings.
Please email report to:
Susan Elbin
New York City Audubon
71 W. 23rd St.
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-691-7483
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New York Harbor
Study, 2008
New York City Audubon and New Jersey Audubon have launched a project
to
study wading bird foraging activity in the greater New York Harbor and
have
started this year (June 2008) to color band Great Egrets and Glossy
Ibis.
Please keep an eye out for banded birds.
- Left Leg: WHITE leg bands etched with BLACK letters
(3 letters). Bands are
placed above the "knee." The leg band also holds a VHF radio
transmitter
- Right Leg: USFWS metal band
If you see any color-banded Great Egrets, in addition
to the band information, please record the date, location, and number
of (other) birds. These data will help us better document the dispersal
pattern of these fledglings.
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