24 - Snowy Egrets and Herons

WAYSIDE LAYOUT: Cream colored, vertically oriented panel with a dark banner running across the top. The banner reads “Golden Gate National Recreation Area” on the left and the National Park Service logo on the right. The panel features three columns. The first column has text and a map, the middle column has three pictures and text and the final, and third column has two pictures, each with accompanying text. 

FIRST COLUMN:  

TEXT: Snowy Egrets and Night-Herons: Protected on the Rock. Black-crowned night-herons and elegant snowy egrets are among Alcatraz’s most picturesque residents. They live in colonies, nesting within the cover of vegetation, including the bushes in this area. They hunt for food in the tide pools and plants at the island’s edge.  

Since night-herons arrived on Alcatraz in 1980, the number of pairs has fluctuated between 68 (in 2001) and 341 (in 1996). The colony is one of the largest in the Bay Area and is well established in nearly a dozen locations on the island, mostly on the southern end, in the agave plants. The first of Alcatraz’s snowy egrets (79 pairs in 2007) arrived in 1997, and these birds have tended to cluster on this side of the island.  

MAP: A colored illustrated depiction of Alcatraz Island with colored areas indicating bird nesting areas on the island. The birds include Pigeon Guillemot, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, California Gull, Western Gull, Black-crowned night-heron, and Snowy Egret.  

TEXT: Please help protect wildlife by staying on paths and remaining quiet.  

SECOND COLUMN:  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored photograph of fluffy white baby birds. They are resting in a nest of straw and grass and their beaks can be seen peeking out from their fluff.  

CAPTION: Snowy egret chicks in nest.  

DESCRIPTION #2: Colored photograph of dark grey baby birds. One of the chicks’ head is looking up to the left and behind it, is an unbroken bird egg.  

CAPTION: Black-crowned night-heron eggs and chicks.  

DESCRIPTION #3: A colored photograph of an adult bird in the branches of a bright green tree. The bird is dark on its back and the top of its head and white on the belly and has a thin, sharp pointed beak.  

CAPTION: Black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 

TEXT: Because herons are especially vulnerable to environmental pollution – exposure to contaminated water can result in deformed eggs – Alcatraz's birds are significant indicators of the bay’s health.  

Though Alcatraz’s nesting areas are closed or screened from view when the birds are breeding and raising their young, there’s still a good chance you’ll see a snowy egret or night heron sheltering in the foliage. Alcatraz’s birds have chosen to be here because the island provides a safe habitat for them.  

THIRD COLUMN:  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored photograph of a bright, white bird that has a long, thin, sharp black beak. The bird is standing on the branches of a plant and looking intently to the left.  

CAPTION: Snowy egret (Egretta thula) 

TEXT: Where else are you likely to see a snowy egret in a fig tree...on an island...in the shadow of a notorious prison? Even if you don’t see an egret hidden in the shrubs, you might hear them. During spring and summer months, if you get too close to their nests, they will let you know – by shrieking loudly at you! They are trying to protect their young.  

DESCRIPTION #2: An oval shaped photograph of a woman. She is wearing a hat with a large feather attached to it and dark jacket and clothes.  

TEXT: Woman’s hat with great egret plumes, circa 1910. Snowy egrets were hunted almost out of existence in the 1920’s because of their plumage was prized for women’s hats.  

The National Audubon Society was founded in response to the near extinction of the snowy egret. The Golden Gate Audubon Society works with the park to educate visitors about egrets and other bird species on Alcatraz.  

LOGO: To the right of the text is a logo. The logo is a circle that has text around the edge that reads: “Golden Gate Audubon Society” and features a bird flying across the middle.