Feeding habitat selection by Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets nesting in east central Minnesota

Waterbirds
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Abstract

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) and Great Egrets (Casmerodius albus) partitioned feeding habitat based on wetland size at Peltier Lake rookery in east central Minnesota. Great Blue Herons preferred large waterbodies (350 ha), whereas Great Egrets fed most often at small ponds (<25 ha). Forty-nine percent of Great Blue Herons used wetlands 301-400 hectares in size and 83% of Great Egrets fed in wetlands <100 ha in size. Great Blue Herons selected large wetlands more often than expected both at the regional (30-km radius) and local (4-km radius) scales. Habitat use by Great Egrets was in proportion to availability at the regional scale, but they selected smaller wetlands for feeding more often than expected at a local scale. The median flight distance of Great Blue Herons was 2.7 km, similar to distances reported elsewhere. Great Egrets flew farther to feeding sites than Great Blue Herons, and flew farther (median = 13.5 km) than reported in other geographic areas.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Feeding habitat selection by Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets nesting in east central Minnesota
Series title Waterbirds
DOI 10.1675/1524-4695(2002)025[0115:FHSBGB]2.0.CO;2
Volume 25
Issue 1
Year Published 2002
Language English
Publisher Waterbird Society
Contributing office(s) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Description 10 p.
First page 115
Last page 124
Country United States
State Minnesota
Other Geospatial Peltier Lake
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