Last updated: March 29, 2021
Place
27 - Seabirds
WAYSIDE LAYOUT: Cream colored, horizontally 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 has two main columns of content. The first column has text and an image. The second column has two rows of images with two images in each row.
FIRST COLUMN:
TEXT: Seabirds: At home on the rock. Alcatraz, nicknamed “The Rock,” devoid of fresh water and surrounded by the salty bay, might not be an ideal home for some wildlife, but it’s great for seabirds. Several species are seasonal or permanent residents, including cormorants, oystercatchers, and pigeon guillemots. Because seabirds drink saltwater and take much of their food from oceans and bays, this is rich habitat for them. Alcatraz also has few predators and, because of park management policies, relatively little human disturbance. To coexist peacefully on Alcatraz, resident seabird species have developed contrasting feeding and nesting patterns. For example, cormorants feed from deep water and build their nests on the island’s cliffs, while oystercatchers feed from the tide pools and nest near the water.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: An illustration of the cliffs on Alcatraz showing the variety of birds that visit the island. The image features birds with text next to them. Text lists the following birds, from top to bottom: Snowy egrets, Black crowned Night Herons, Western Gulls, Brandt’s Cormorants, Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemot, and Black Oystercatchers.
CAPTION: The National Park Service carefully manages activity on Alcatraz to protect the island’s birds. Please stay on established walkways.
SECOND COLUMN:
FIRST ROW:
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A medium sized bird stands on a rock like surface. The bird is completely black and has a small greyish white patch on its wings, a short black pointed beak, and bright orange webbed feet.
CAPTION: Pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba). The San Francisco Bay estuary is home to just one colony of pigeon guillemots, and they breed here on Alcatraz. Pigeon guillemots build their homes in holes in the sides of the island’s cliffs, in discarded pipe, and other hollows. Sixty-one adult pigeon-guillemots and 21 nests were counted on Alcatraz in 2007.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A medium sized bird sits on a rock surface. The black oystercatcher is completely black bird with a bright orange ring around its eyes, and a long, thin bright orange beak.
CAPTION: Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani). Alcatraz’s nesting population includes large and small colonies, and both year-round and seasonal residents. The island’s one pair of black oystercatchers, first sighted in 1995, live here full-time. But they’re elusive, so consider yourself lucky if you see them!
SECOND ROW:
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A close up image of about 20 black birds scattered along a rocky surface. The birds are black, have black webbed feet and a long black beak with a bright blue pouch attached to their bottom beak, like a chin. Some of the birds are sitting on nests made of dried grasses.
CAPTION: Cormorant nests. Note the blue throat pouches on the male cormorants, which are used to attract females.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A wider photo of the cormorant nesting area showing hundreds of birds scattered along the rocky cliffs of the island.
CAPTION: Brandt’s cormorant breeding colony can be seen during the spring and summer.
FIRST COLUMN:
TEXT: Seabirds: At home on the rock. Alcatraz, nicknamed “The Rock,” devoid of fresh water and surrounded by the salty bay, might not be an ideal home for some wildlife, but it’s great for seabirds. Several species are seasonal or permanent residents, including cormorants, oystercatchers, and pigeon guillemots. Because seabirds drink saltwater and take much of their food from oceans and bays, this is rich habitat for them. Alcatraz also has few predators and, because of park management policies, relatively little human disturbance. To coexist peacefully on Alcatraz, resident seabird species have developed contrasting feeding and nesting patterns. For example, cormorants feed from deep water and build their nests on the island’s cliffs, while oystercatchers feed from the tide pools and nest near the water.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: An illustration of the cliffs on Alcatraz showing the variety of birds that visit the island. The image features birds with text next to them. Text lists the following birds, from top to bottom: Snowy egrets, Black crowned Night Herons, Western Gulls, Brandt’s Cormorants, Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemot, and Black Oystercatchers.
CAPTION: The National Park Service carefully manages activity on Alcatraz to protect the island’s birds. Please stay on established walkways.
SECOND COLUMN:
FIRST ROW:
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A medium sized bird stands on a rock like surface. The bird is completely black and has a small greyish white patch on its wings, a short black pointed beak, and bright orange webbed feet.
CAPTION: Pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba). The San Francisco Bay estuary is home to just one colony of pigeon guillemots, and they breed here on Alcatraz. Pigeon guillemots build their homes in holes in the sides of the island’s cliffs, in discarded pipe, and other hollows. Sixty-one adult pigeon-guillemots and 21 nests were counted on Alcatraz in 2007.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A medium sized bird sits on a rock surface. The black oystercatcher is completely black bird with a bright orange ring around its eyes, and a long, thin bright orange beak.
CAPTION: Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani). Alcatraz’s nesting population includes large and small colonies, and both year-round and seasonal residents. The island’s one pair of black oystercatchers, first sighted in 1995, live here full-time. But they’re elusive, so consider yourself lucky if you see them!
SECOND ROW:
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A close up image of about 20 black birds scattered along a rocky surface. The birds are black, have black webbed feet and a long black beak with a bright blue pouch attached to their bottom beak, like a chin. Some of the birds are sitting on nests made of dried grasses.
CAPTION: Cormorant nests. Note the blue throat pouches on the male cormorants, which are used to attract females.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: A wider photo of the cormorant nesting area showing hundreds of birds scattered along the rocky cliffs of the island.
CAPTION: Brandt’s cormorant breeding colony can be seen during the spring and summer.