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

• 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

Human-Cormorant Conflicts

Determining Cormorant DietIn order to determine cormorant diet,

otoliths of their regurgitated pellets may be examined

Otolith

Importance of StudyThe 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/ HypothesisTo understand how DCCO’s utilize their

environment through studying roosting/loafing location preference and flight lines to and from these locations

LocationBarnegat 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

• 120 birds were observed (Avg. 30 birds/day)

• 72% moved each day on average• 47 flocks observed (Avg. flock size = 1.9 birds)

Results at Turtle Cove

Turtle Cove Flight Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 80

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80Flock Size by % out of Total # of

Flocks

Myer's HoleTurtle Cove

Flock Size

% out of Total # Flocks

DiscussionMyer’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 SignificanceNo 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 ResearchThere 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 weatherThis is a preliminary study and research will

continue next year

AcknowledgementsColin 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

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

beach house