ABSTRACT
Patterns of nesting for five species of colonial wading birds (Ciconiiformes) in the central and southern Everglades in Florida were compared between two separate periods: an early drainage period (1931-46) and a late drainage period (1974-89). Parameters examined during the two periods were (1) numbers of birds nesting in each colony, (2) locations of colonies, (3) timing of nesting, and (4) colony success. The five species analyzed were great egret ( C asm erodius albu s), tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor), snowy egret (Egretta thula), white ibis ( Eudocim us albus), and wood stork (M ycteria am en can a). These analyses were conducted to show changes in patterns of nesting between periods and to examine how these changes may have been caused by broader scale changes in hydrological patterns. A more complete, recent colony database (1953-89) for wood storks was also examined to supplement these analyses.
