Seabird Study:
Utilization of Estuarine and intertidal habitats at the John D. MacArthur State
Park
Principal
investigator: Diane Arrieta, MSc.
Research
Assistant: Leah Plocharczyk, MA
State permit
#11171515
Internships
available for Wilkes Honors students (approved by the honors college)
Spring semester internship is already full
This long term study
plans to investigate the use of Estuarine and Intertidal Habitats by wading
birds at low tide within park boundaries of the John D. MacArthur State Park,
located in Riviera Beach, FL [Palm Beach County, FL]. The scheme aims to
monitor, assess and regularly update information on the relative importance of
inter-tidal feeding areas within park boundaries to document abundance and
distribution patterns for the following species.
Species:
Table 1. Birds of the order Ciconiiformes in Florida
(Sizemore, et. al., 2012)
|
Common Name
|
Species Name
|
Family
|
Status
|
|
Great Egret
|
Ardea alba
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Snowy Egret
|
Egretta thula
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Reddish Egret
|
Egretta rufescens
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Cattle Egret
|
Bubulcus ibis
|
Ardeidae
|
Native*
|
|
Great Blue Heron
|
Ardea herodias
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Tricolored Heron
|
Egretta tricolor
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Little Blue Heron
|
Egretta caerulea
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Black-crowned Night-Heron
|
Nycticorax nycticorax
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
|
Nyctanassa violacea
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Green Heron
|
Butorides virescens
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
American Bittern
|
Botaurus lentiginosus
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Least Bittern
|
Ixobrychus exilis
|
Ardeidae
|
Native
|
|
Wood Stork
|
Mycteria americana
|
Ciconiidae
|
Native
|
|
Roseate Spoonbill
|
Platalea ajaja
|
Threskiornithidae
|
Native
|
|
White Ibis
|
Eudocimus albus
|
Threskiornithidae
|
Native
|
|
Glossy Ibis
|
Plegadis falcinellus
|
Threskiornithidae
|
Native
|
|
Sacred Ibis
|
Threskiornis aethiopicus
|
Threskiornithidae
|
Non-native
|
|
Scarlet Ibis
|
Eudocimus ruber
|
Threskiornithidae
|
Non-native
|
|
*Arrived in Florida VIA natural range expansion.
|
|||
The objectives of
our monitoring include:
1. Assess baseline
seabird foraging rates at our four sites
2. Assess seabird
roost utilization at sites
3. Assess
distribution fluctuations between seasons and environmental conditions
4. Assess baseline
levels of human-caused disturbance; especially in Lake Worth Cove
Reference:
Grant C. Sizemore, Martin B. Main, and Elise V. Pearlstine, 2015. Florida's Wading Birds: IFAS Extention. PUblication #WEC267 Available: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw309
