Nest Site Selection by Reddish Egrets in Florida

Understanding nest site preferences for a species is a necessary component of conservation efforts because it allows managers to protect and create habitat that will promote population growth. We surveyed 305 sites with or near colonially nesting waterbirds for nesting reddish egrets (Egretta rufescens) during 2016 in Florida, USA, to identify factors that influenced the probability of occurrence and the abundance of nesting reddish egrets. Fifty-eight of 150 (39%) sites with nesting waterbirds had ≥1 nesting pair of reddish egrets. Zero-inflated Poisson models indicated that sites with a greater amount of foraging habitat within a 5-km radius, with greater richness of nesting species, and, to a lesser extent, with shorter vegetation had a greater number of nesting reddish egrets. By contrast, the distance of an island from the mainland, an island’s size, and an island’s proximity to deep water did not influence the probability of occurrence or abundance of nesting reddish egrets. Our results suggest that effective management of large, speciose coastal rookeries are likely to benefit reddish egrets. Coastal restoration efforts that tightly link nest site management with high-quality foraging habitat will be most likely to prove beneficial to reddish egrets. Long-term management of reddish egrets will benefit from better knowledge of how sea level rise will alter the location and extent of foraging habitat.