Flight Line Study of Double-crested Cormorants, Preliminary Results Richard Flamio, Eastchester High School

Review of Literature Flexible nesting requirements Litter their habitat with guano and strip trees of their bark for their nests Make environment unsuitable for waderbirds Feed on small fish near the shoreline and are believed to consume juvenile fish

Human-Cormorant Conflicts DCCOs in the Mississippi Delta consume over $5 million of catfish fingerlings/year and depredation has led to a $25 million profit loss/year Sports fisheries have persecuted cormorants for allegedly decreasing fish populations Egg oiling, shooting, and harassment are controlling techniques

Determining Cormorant Diet In order to determine cormorant diet, otoliths of their regurgitated pellets may be examined Otolith

Importance of Study The current study would serve as a basis for future studies done in the Barnegat Bay region of New Jersey in order to aid the research in determining if cormorants affect local fish populations

Purpose/ Hypothesis To understand how DCCO’s utilize their environment through studying roosting/loafing location preference and flight lines to and from these locations

Location Barnegat Bay covers 75 square miles on the eastern seaboard of Southern New Jersey Wide variety of wildlife and a large fishing community Common roosting and loafing location April through October

Methods Myer’s Hole U.S. Coast Guard boats/ commercial fishing boats Along LBI coast Near inlet to ocean Turtle Cove In bay’s interior Less disruption from boat traffic Pilings Important fishing sites Marsh

Birds observed at Myer’s Hole biweekly from midmorning to early afternoon and at Turtle Cove weekly in early morning All birds in sight were followed with binoculars Travel direction and flock size were recorded for each bird observed arriving or departing

Results at Myer’s Hole 258 birds were observed (Avg. 23 birds/day) 47% moved each day on average 111 flocks were observed (Avg. flock size = 1.2 birds)

Myer’s Hole Flight Line

Results at Turtle Cove 120 birds were observed (Avg. 30 birds/day) 72% moved each day on average 47 flocks observed (Avg. flock size = 1.9 birds)

Turtle Cove Flight Line

Discussion Myer’s Hole fits the roosting location profile of a smaller, more sedentary population Turtle Cove fit the loafing location profile of having larger, more active numbers More research is needed to solidify if the birds’ behavior was due to location status

Statistical Significance No statistical tests or p-values were needed as all birds in sight were accounted for.

Conclusion To understand how DCCO’s utilize their environment through studying roosting/loafing location preference and flight lines to and from these locations The research study was highly successful in that flight lines were determined Supports previous research that humans have enhanced cormorant problem by modifying the environment

Implications/ Future Research There has been no research to date in this area on cormorants and observations on their activity will help future researchers determine if they have a definite impact on local fisheries Fishermen chose the sites of study so that areas they believed were the sites of human-cormorant conflicts were directly studied Movement patterns may be affected by weather This is a preliminary study and research will continue next year

Acknowledgements Colin Grubel, CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College Christian Gorycki, Edward Gruber, Jean-Marie Woods-Ray, Eastchester High School John A. Brancato, Barnegat Bay fisherman My Family and fellow ASRians Dr. John Waldman, Queens College

Flight Line Study of Double-crested Cormorants, Preliminary Results Eye Opener Review of Literature Human-Cormorant Conflicts Determining Cormorant Diet Importance of Study Purpose/ Hypothesis Location Methods Methods Flow Chart Results at Myer’s Hole Myer's Hole Flight Line Results at Turtle Cove Turtle Cove Flight Line Flock Size Graph Discussion Conclusion Implications/ Future Research Acknowledgements

My Summer 2011: Myer’s Hole

Turtle Cove, my boat, and my beach house My Summer 2011: Turtle Cove, my boat, and my beach house