USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 21
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume II > Part 21
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The Woodmere Academy Bird Club, while confined to a maximum of a dozen members, was extremely active for a decade, between its beginning in 1926 and 1936, when most of the members separated to go to college. Dr. David E. Harrower, science teacher of the academy, formed the club with five members, boys of about twelve. The emphasis of the club from the start was on field work. Almost daily field trips, before and after school, were made with longer trips to Montauk Point and Jones Beach and other points of bird-interest undertaken during vacations. Weekly meetings were held, the pro- grams consisting of prepared papers by members and a discussion of field notes. Two issues of an ambitious, forty-page publication, The Heron, were issued in 1930 and 1932.
One outcome of this club's activity has had an important bearing on the stimulation of bird-study interest throughout the island. In 1936, Dr. Harrower started a mimeographed letter giving the places and dates where various species of birds had been seen. Two years later, Robert Arbib, Jr., one of the members, continued the idea as "Long Island Bird Notes", a weekly column appearing Saturdays in the Nassau Daily Review-Star. Since 1941, this column has been con- ducted by John J. Elliott, well-known ornithologist of Seaford. He
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has contributed something like a quarter of a million words, including the observation records. The column, recording as it does the arrival and departure of various species of migrants and the abundance of the different species at various times of the year, has proved of value in many ways. The Snowy Owl records, for example, have been used by professional ornithologists in covering the Long Island area. The column is received and used by such institutions as the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University ; the National Audubon Society and the New York State Museum, at Albany. This column - on offshoot of bird-club activities-as well as the bird clubs themselves, have played important roles in conservation and in stimulating increased interest in the rich bird life of Long Island.
Long Island Breeding Birds JOHN J. ELLIOTT
Fortunate indeed is the individual who holds a deep interest in God's Kingdom as revealed to us in Nature. All about us the surge of life pulses, with vivacious singing and nesting of our native birds, blooming of flowers, alert fish of pond and stream, insect court- ship and battles, shy mammals of field and woodland, reptiles basking on half-sunken logs or crawling over the forest floor; all these may be seen and studied by the quiet observer who occasionally takes time off for his own soul's good, from his human associates.
It therefore gives this writer pleasure to present this paper on one of these subjects-that of listing our Long Island breeding birds, principally with reference to their preferred habitat, where the rarer and more unusual nesting birds were more recently reported, and a few paragraphs pertaining to ecological conditions and habits.
Long continued records indicate that breeding birds vary in numbers and species. Some of the changes that eliminate a species entirely usually occur over a rather long period of time and generally include birds that require a specialized habitat. Sometimes the mere burning over of low meadows, bordering on uplands, will eliminate the Henslow's Sparrow from breeding, as it requires considerable dry growth for an undercover. With the return of a few years' accumulation of dead grasses, the birds are usually back. Should the location be filled, this would eliminate the species from that area. As all the areas occupied, however, are not being filled or yearly burned over, the species still persists. Likewise with the Black-crowned Night Heron, a land development breaks up one colony, but another area has become overgrown and a new colony is formed.
Generally, the bulk of Long Island's breeding species are suffi- ciently stabilized to list with reference to recent records, and such a list should be of value for comparison with future compilations. Because of the appearance in literature from time to time of erroneous
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remarks that certain species do nest, as for instance the Great Blue Heron, a few of the non-breeding birds will be mentioned.
Companion volumes of recent origin which may be of interest to the student of Long Island birds are: Allan D. Cruickshank's Birds Around New York City, 1942, American Museum of Natural History Press, New York City, and The Natural History of Smith- town, 1939, by Loring W. Turrell.
Because Long Island is geographically small, and as no discus- sion involving species out of the region will be made, only the con- mon name of the species as recognized in the check-list of the Ameri- can Ornithologist Union will be given.
PIED-BILLED GREBE. This little diver is the only one of its family that breeds on Long Island. Although the Common Loon, another diver, is occasionally seen along our shores during the breeding sea- son, they do not nest. This Grebe may be found breeding in ponds containing dense aquatic growth, usually bordered with cattails or other thick concealment. They are rather shy during nesting, but later may lead their young about quite openly compared to some of their shyer neighbors. The bird is an uncommon and sporadical breeder although rather regular at Mill Neck. It was reported as breeding at Hewlett in 1946 and they are recorded from time to time elsewhere, eastward, on the least-molested ponds. Like almost all of our breeding birds they should be looked for in June or very early July to establish their nesting status, as migration sometimes begins by the middle of August and there may be some movement away from their nesting grounds prior to that time, even in July.
EASTERN GREEN HERON. Although the Great Blue Heron, Ameri- can Egret and the Snowy Egret breed in the State of New Jersey, they do not nest on Long Island. The Green Heron is a common and widely distributed breeder in our region and is well known. They nest singly or in small colonies in trees or thickets, breeding in diver- sified locations near marsh or on upland. They are well distributed over Long Island, being commonly found at Jones Beach.
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. This species, like the Green Heron, is well known and widely distributed over Long Island. It breeds in trees in larger colonies than does the Green Heron and there is considerable shifting of locations, especially on western Long Island, the colony at Massapequa having changed nesting grounds three times during the past three decades. Predatory crows, as in colonies upstate, may sometimes destroy eggs and perhaps cause theni to desert their breeding area. Night Herons may best be seen early and late in the day as they fly out of the nesting colonies to feed in the shallows or return to feed their hungry young.
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron was first discovered nesting on Long Island by A. D. Cruick- shank at Massapequa in 1938, when four pair were found with nests, each containing five eggs. In 1941, a nest, containing three eggs, was found at Great Neck. The breeding continued at Massapequa, but for the past two years there apparently have been no nests there nor has any report come to me of this species breeding elsewhere. Sev- eral birds have been reported rather regularly from Jones Beach in
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1946 and there is a possibility that they may breed somewhere in the vicinity. Reports of birds seen have also come from the Orient area, on eastern Long Island, in recent years during the nesting season. They select a breeding area similar to that of the Black- crowned Night Heron and it was in or bordering this colony where they bred in Massapequa.
AMERICAN BITTERN. This large bittern is a rather rare and local nesting bird along the South Shore of Long Island where its hollow "pumping" may be heard during breeding season. It has been reported in recent years as nesting at Idlewild, in the Merrick-Free- port area, at Massapequa and in southern Suffolk County. It is rather secretive and its nesting haunts are large wet marshes. They keep within the confines of these areas and may easily escape notice unless observed on the wing.
EASTERN LEAST BITTERN. This attractive little bittern formerly bred at Idlewild, on Jamaica Bay, in a tangled brackish marsh of phragmites, cattails and other aquatic plants. The overlying Idle- wild airport now covers this area and the birds are not known to breed in adjacent marshes. Normally they prefer thick beds of cat- tails, pickerel weeds, arrowheads and other aquatic growth. Because of the lack of large suitable breeding areas on Long Island, this species may breed in one place for a few years and disappear again. It has been reported as nesting at Mill Neck in 1932, 1933. Cruick- shank, 1941, states there were at least six breeding locations on Long Island. The best known breeding area was at Idlewild. Long Island Bird Notes listed six pair present in 1938 in mid-June with four nests found. In June, 1946, a calling bird was heard and later seen at Mastic.
MUTE SWAN. An introduced species from the Old World, the Mute Swan is now feral on Long Island. It breeds commonly along the South Shore, and along the North Shore may be found in such favorable areas as at Mill Neck. It is found to a lesser degree east- ward along the Sound and in the interior. It is one of the most conspicuous birds we have as it forms its high nesting platform or swims gracefully with bowed neck and needs little introduction to the reader.
CANADA GOOSE. This species breeds far to the north, and Long Island breeding birds are those which have been either crippled, released or have escaped and become feral. Often the big V forma- tions drift down out of the sky as they migrate in spring and join up with these feral birds. Soon afterward they wing northward, leav- ing behind these Long Island brethren, which are unidentifiable in life, to array their bulky nests and lead their downy goslings around our local ponds. These feral Canada Geese are rare compared to the Mute Swan. Up to a few years ago they bred regularly at Jones Beach. They apparently cannot endure molestation as under the ministrations of William Vogt in the early nineteen hundred and thirties they prospered when the Jones Beach Sanctuary pond was part of the State Park. Likewise at South Haven (perhaps the best breeding area at the present time) molestation is at a minimum.
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COMMON MALLARD. The Mallard is also feral. Truly wild Mal- lards, occurring in migration, breed far to the west. These are unidentifiable in life from the true strains of our feral birds. Our breeding Mallard nests on the shores of many of our ponds and the female may be seen leading her line of 12 or even 14 downy young along their margins in late spring and early summer. They are widely distributed where partial protection is offered, but much less given to breeding in the salt marshes than the following species.
(Photo by Edwin Way Teale)
Family of Mallard Ducks
COMMON BLACK DUCK. This is the most abundant breeding duck on Long Island. During early spring the female builds a grassy nest in some salt,øbrackish or fresh water marsh while the males, like others of this large family, disport themselves in small flocks unburdened by domestic duties. The Black Duck breeds from the Beechhurst area on the Sound, and the Jamaica Bay area on the South Shore, eastward to Montauk and Orient, being commonest in great marshy areas along the south bays and ocean. It is reported as a common permanent resident, breeding in swamps and along the Nissequogue River in the Smithtown region (Turrell). Considerable burning of the marshes yearly are perhaps a deterring factor in the breeding of this species along both forks from Riverhead eastward.
BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Although our records are lightly sprinkled with sight observations of this species in June, we have only three
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nesting reports for Long Island-Orient, Speonk and East Moriches. It is essentially a bird of fresh water marshes, ponds or sluggish streams and considerable investigation in such areas might reveal more breeding birds.
WOOD DUCK. This, the most beautiful of our ducks, nests for the most part along the North Shore, but has been reported during the past few years, with young unable to fly, at Seaford and Wantagh. It is a regular breeding bird at Mill Neck. In the Smithtown region, according to Turrell (1939), two or three pair regularly nest. Because of nesting in hollow trees, this species may be attracted into suitable protected areas by the erection of nesting boxes.
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Normally a non-breeder, this bird nests casually, perhaps because there are so many crippled after the hunting season remaining during the summer, mostly on eastern Long Island. We have no nesting records west of Mastic. Breeding evidence during the past comes elsewhere from Shinnecock Bay, Gardiner's Island, Oyster Pond and Fischer's Island.
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. Breeding records are indefinite for this species and apparently are confined mostly to Suffolk County. Some records coming in are later changed to Cooper's Hawk, and because of the similarity of both species and their secretive habits in the breed- ing season, some study is necessary to properly identify the nester. It has not been definitely recorded as breeding in Oyster Bay or in the Smithtown area, nor can I find any recent reports of its nesting elsewhere.
COOPER'S HAWK. This species breeds in our woodlands and may occasionally be heard calling in resentment when its nesting area is invaded. They build rather high in trees. Recent records come from Hewlett, Hempstead, Seaford, Massapequa, Commack, Mastic and Shelter Island. Along the North Shore the species breeds, and in the Smithtown area it is a common summer resident, nesting in tall, unfrequented woods (Turrell, 1939).
EASTERN RED-TAILED HAWK. The Red-tail is the nesting species of eastern Long Island whereas the Red-shouldered seems to prefer the western sections along the North Shore. Cruickshank, 1941, states that the bird is virtually confined (on Long Island) to the great pine and oak barrens between Melville and Riverhead. Recent June and July reports come from Manorville and Mastic in that region. Perhaps more consistent are breeding records from North- west Woods on the Montauk Peninsula where several recent nestings have been observed. It also nests on Shelter Island.
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. The big, soaring, Red-tailed, Broad- winged and Red-shouldered Hawks are the three breeding species of this race on Long Island. They soar little during nesting season, are secretive and resort much to the treetops. Most of our records of the Red-shouldered come from the North Shore along the western end. They feed largely on wood frogs, snakes, etc., and appear to like areas of damp Carolinian flora. Recent records come from Roslyn eastward to Cold Springs Harbor and sparingly to the West Hills, including several nests located at Mill Neck and Cold Spring Harbor.
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BROAD-WINGED HAWK. The Broad-winged Hawk, especially in recent years, appears to be increasing on Long Island. It is a bird of the hills and a nesting record from Idlewild is very unusual. During the breeding season of 1946, I was impressed with the num- ber of birds present. They seem to prefer tall oak woods, occa- sionlly flying out over the bordering roads, or if the woods are entered, utter a high-pitched whistle with wide-open bill and tail apparently drawn in by the effort. They are rather widely reported for the past five years. Consistent records and breeding reports come from Oyster Bay, Cold Spring Harbor, West Hills, Smithtown, Commack, Manorville, Mastic, and East Moriches. It has also been reported from Sag Harbor and Gardiner's Island.
BALD EAGLE. Apparently this species no longer breeds, although reported commonly at one time. Roy Latham, of Orient, states that there are no more Bald Eagles breeding on Shelter Island since 1930 and, apparently, this termination concluded our Long Island reports for the present at least.
MARSH HAWK. This species is commonly observed quartering our marshes where its white upper tail-coverts may be observed as it wheels in search of its prey. It is an ardent hunter whether in search of mouse or bird. It breeds from the Jamaica Bay area east- ward, most commonly along the great South Shore marshes. It nests more sparingly along the North Shore with recent reports from Orient and to a lesser degree in the open areas of the interior of Long Island.
OSPREY. From Mastic (irregularly) eastward is the range of the big fish hawk. On the extreme eastern end of Long Island they become a characteristic part of the landscape with their large nests perched on man-made supports, poles or in trees. They breed com- monly on Gardiner's and Cartwright Islands, less so at Orient and on Shelter Island, on the Montauk peninsula, and elsewhere west on the South Shore to Mastic. They are conspicuous in the areas where common and are at times rather noisy while flying overhead. On July 3, 1941, sixty nine nests were found on Gardiner's Island and 125 birds banded in one day by Roy Wilcox of Speonk.
SPARROW HAWK. Although its larger relative, the Duck Hawk. has been reported as nesting at least once on the ledges of a New York City skyscraper, it has not been found nesting in Brooklyn or anywhere on Long Island. The smaller reddish-brown Sparrow Hawk, however, has nested in a tin cornice in downtown Brooklyn for several years, successfuly rearing its young, and elsewhere over the city it is occasionally observed. Further out on Long Island the species is regularly distributed, with nesting records coming to me from Beechhurst (on the Sound) and Jamaica Bay to Orient and around the farmlands on the Montauk peninsula. It is a bird of the open country, nesting in a cavity, and may be seen hovering over meadow or golf course, in summer, on the search for cricket or grasshopper.
EASTERN RUFFED GROUSE. The Heath Hen was last taken on Long Island in 1840, but the Ruffed Grouse still persists in the wilder areas of middle and eastern Long Island from Smithtown
.
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eastward to Riverhead and on the Montauk peninsula. It is a bird of deep woodlands and a permanent resident. It was heard drum- ming and otherwise reported in the Wading River region, at Manor- ville and west of Riverhead recently. It is occasional westward in the Deer Park and Northport areas, but there appears to be no Nassau County record in recent years.
BOB-WHITE. The Bob-white is a regular breeding bird over most of Long Island, sometimes breeding into October. Four pair were reported nesting in Beechhurst, northern Queens County, in 1940, and it has been reported from the Jamaica Bay region eastward through the open Suffolk County areas to Riverhead, but, directly opposite to the Ruffed Grouse, appears most commonly along the South Shore, being regular at Massapequa and elsewhere.
PHEASANT. The introduced pheasant is more or less of mixed stock, the Asiatic races predominating. It is rather widely spread over Long Island and appears to be most commonly reported from the western end, apparently being stocked most frequently there. It is common in the Jones Beach area and tolerably common in the Oyster Bay region. The Wild Turkey formerly bred on Long Island in the early settlers' time and the little California Quail has been released at least once (at Baldwin, 1943), but apparently failed to become acclimated. Other game birds such as the Reeves Pheasant have been shot recently (two at Massapequa).
KING RAIL. Several years ago I reviewed the status of King, Clapper and Virginia Rails in Long Island Bird Notes. At that time I procured no actual breeding records of the King Rail or accompanying young. Cruickshank, 1941, cites only one definite record, a nest found at Bayside, June 11, 1924. Neither Boulton and Nichols in the Long Island Bird Club's Bulletin No. 2, A List of the Birds of Oyster Bay and Vicinity, Long Island, 1940, nor Turrell in The Natural History of Smithtown, 1939, lists this species, even as a migrant, in the Oyster Bay and Smithtown areas respectively. Two, in the Mill Neck marshes, April 22, 1945, were perhaps migrants. A single mid-July, 1946, bird in a Baldwin marsh was probably a vagrant. A careful study of the fresh water marshes in which this species is likely to breed is needed to clarify its status.
NORTHERN CLAPPER RAIL. The clattering of this big gray rail is a characteristic sound coming out of the salt marshes in spring, and this bird is common from Jamaica Bay to Jones Beach on the ocean and across the bay at Oceanside and Baldwin. East of Free- port we have no records on the north side of the south bays. It breeds less commonly than westward in the Gilgo, Oak Beach areas. No marshes of any large size are found along the ocean from Fire Island Inlet to east of Patchogue. The bird has been recorded as breeding in the Moriches marshes and possibly at Shinnecock. On both forks, calling birds have been heard in breeding season at Acabonack, Three Mile Harbor, North Sea Harbor, Orient, Cut- chogue, Mattituck and along the Sound at Mt. Sinai, Sunken Meadow, Mill Neck, and Little Neck as well as in a few intermediate loca- tions. Interesting is the Clapper Rail's absence from the Mt. Sinai marshes for over fifty years and their return about a decade ago.
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There are now about six or seven pairs nesting. Apparently the birds were driven off by eggers who, according to old residents, traversed the marshes taking eggs by the pailfuls. Because at Mt. Sinai and elsewhere new waterways permit a more direct flow, therefore flooding the marshes sooner than with the old winding channels, good Clapper Rail breeding grounds along the Sound are restricted.
VIRGINIA RAIL. This small reddish rail breeds in both salt and fresh-water marshes and therefore enjoys a more extensive range than the Clapper, although not nesting in as large colonies. It breeds on both sides of the bays eastward and in several locations in the Orient region. Along the Sound, calling birds have been heard in the breeding season at Sunken Meadow, Huntington Bay, Fort Solonga, Bayside and Flushing. In suitable locations the marsh need not be as extensive as the Clapper Rail usually requires. SORA. The Sora prefers fresh-water marshes and formerly bred at Idlewild near Jamaica Bay, 14 being listed in 1938. With the new airport covering the area, one pair was reported as breeding nearby in 1946. From Mill Neck comes a report of its breeding in 1935 and one from Fort Solonga in 1930. Records are scattered elsewhere, none very recent coming to my attention.
BLACK RAIL. A nest and eggs were found on the extremne upper edge of a salt marsh in narrow-leaf cattails at Oak Beach, June 20, 1937, constituting the first nesting for New York State. After breeding, the unhatched eggs and nest were turned over to the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. For sev- eral years this species was reported in the same area with both male and female seen and heard calling. Reports of nesting at Long Beach on one or two occasions are not fully authentic. All our young rails are black or blackish and because of this one must use caution in identifying this little dark species. Egg measure- ments too are essential in checking nests.
FLORIDA GALLINULE. This species prefers cattails in deep water with some open water available. It is a rare nester on Long Island and, although no doubt breeding, there appears to be no very recent definite records of its occurrence. Reports show it as possibly nest- ing at Mill Neck in 1932 and as nesting in 1935. We have no recent records from Old Mill on Jamaica Bay or at Wantagh. At Fort Solonga it nested in 1930 and, according to one observer, it, in all probability, still does. It also nested for some years at Speonk. Our most recent record of breeding evidence is one young bird observed at Plandome, June 26, 1940.
AMERICAN COOT. There does not appear to be any record of the breeding of the Coot on Long Island prior to 1924 when, during two successive seasons, it was observed nesting at Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, in an area now filled. At Mill Neck, in 1940, a pair of Coots were observed attending young about a week old. The bird has been listed there each summer with the exception of one, during the war, when the area was practically unvisited. In 1945, young were observed, and one adult was present in the 1946 breeding season at this writing. Its habitat is a wet swampy area with small
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expanses of water here and there among cattail clumps and the cattail-fringed borders.
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