30 - Alcatraz Island: Wildlife Habitat in the Bay

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 two pictures, the middle column has three pictures and text and the final, and third column has a picture, text and a map.  

FIRST COLUMN:  

TEXT: Alcatraz Island: Wildlife habitat in the bay. Though Alcatraz is infamous for housing prisoners, birds have been the island’s principal residents for much longer. They were here before Spanish explorers sailed into the bay in 1775, and large populations were present when the American military garrisoned Alcatraz in 1859 and, over time, development drove them away. Since the penitentiary closed in 1963, birds have gradually reclaimed the island.  

Today, protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, cormorants, gulls, herons, egrets, and many more species nest among the remnants of the prison and in the island’s lush vegetation. They are at the center of the island’s other story – Alcatraz is alive with wildlife and plant communities. You are in the midst of a thriving ecosystem.  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored photograph of a small brown mouse with a white belly.  

CAPTION: Deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) 

DESCRIPTION #2: Colored photograph of a dark colored salamander on the rocky ground. 

CAPTION: California slender salamander 

TEXT: Other wildlife on the island. While marine birds are Alcatraz’s predominant wildlife, other birds and creatures are at home here too. Watch for deer mice, salamanders, banana slugs and other island residents.  

SECOND COLUMN:  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored photograph of a bright white bird with a thin, sharp black beak.  

CAPTION: Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 

DESCRIPTION #2: Colored photograph of three bird eggs in a nest made of straw and leaves.  

CAPTION: Western gull eggs (Larus occidentalis) 

DESCRIPTION #3: Colored photo of a bird with a white belly and dark back on a branch of a tree.  

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

TEXT: The Agave Trail. See Alcatraz’s wild side...walk the Agave trail. INDECIPHERABLE 

THIRD COLUMN:  

DESCRIPTION: View of birds scattered along the rocky edge of the island.  

CAPTION: Brandt’s cormorants nesting colony (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) 

TEXT: Lacking natural predators, such as coyote, bobcats and _____, Alcatraz offers a diversity of habitats for birds with diverse needs. Some species nest in the Island’s foliage or the prison rubble. Others prefer the cliffs, still others choose the pavement of the old ____ ____ ____. The islands avian communities provide an excellent opportunity for research. Since 1990, the U.S. Geological Survey has studied snowy egrets and black-crowned night-herons nests. Since 1995, the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO-Conservation Science) has _______ the island's seabirds to _____ _____ about their behavior and their ______ to environmental disturbances.  

MAP: Map of Alcatraz Island, with colored areas showing the different bird nesting areas.