Boat Disturbance of Ciconiiformes in Georgia Estuaries

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Abstract
Resting and foraging Ciconiiformes along the shore of Cumberland Sound, Georgia, were less likely to respond to experimental small boat runs than Ciconiiformes in tidal creeks. Of groups of wading birds encountered on two routes along the wide channel ajoining the shore of the Sound, 15 of 99 groups (15.2%), and 44 of 129 groups (34.1%) altered their behavior or flushed in response to the boat. Along two narrower tidal creek routes with dense Spartina alterniflora, 148 of 201 groups (73.6%) and 114 of 137 groups (83.2%) responded. Birds in trees or on docks flushed less frequently than birds in the water, on the shore or in Spartina. Eighty-four of 195 groups (43.1%) of Snowny Egrets (Egretta thula) responded to the boat when in the water, along the shore or in Spartina. In comparison 82 of 132 groups (62.1%) of Great Egrets (Casmerodius albus), six of seven groups (85.7%) of Wood Storks (Mycteria americana), and 40 of 43 groups (93.0%) of White Ibises responded. Birds disturbed in the tidal creeks were more likely to leave the site where they encountered the boat and flew further than birds disturbed on the sound. On average, the boat was closer to the bank in the creeks, but birds in creeks were also more sensitive to the presence of the boat than birds on the sound shore. The data imply Ciconiiformes may experience more difficulty habituating to boat traffic in some habitats than in others.

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