Stephen A. Nesbitt

We monitored bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nesting effort and success in Florida annually before, during, and after years when eggs were removed from selected pairs. Complete clutches were taken to promote renesting. Clutches were collected after >2 weeks of natural incubation. Incubation of collected eggs was continued artificially and resultant young were reared in captivity in Oklahoma. At 11-12 weeks, young were released at established hack sites in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina. The goal of the project was to increase the nesting population in the...

Aerial overflights were used to assess impacts of the application of habitat management guidelines to 24 experimental and 38 control bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nesting territories. No significant differences in productivity were found between nests where management guidelines had been applied and control nests where no development had occurred. No changes in the minimums called for in the guidelines or their application are indicated at this time.

The eastern brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis carolinensis) ceased nesting in Louisiana in 1961 and the species completely disappeared by 1963. From 1968 to 1980, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission reintroduced 1,276 pelicans at 3 release sites in southeastern Louisiana. Two restored nesting populations were established, 1 at North Island in the Chandeleur Island chain and 1 at Queen Bess/Camp Island in Barataria Bay. The Queen Bess/Camp Island colony fledged 2,751 birds between 1971 and 1984. North Island production was...

The foods of 172 armadillos from the recently established Florida population wer,e compared with foods of the native population as reported by various authors. Some differences were observed, but the foods of armadillos in Florida were quite similar to those reported for the species from its native U.S. range. Seasonal variation in the consumption of Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Myriapoda, and Annelida were noted.

During a three year study 282 successful nesting pairs of southern bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus) produced 404 young at a rate 0£1.43 young per successful nest, and 0.82 per active territory. This is similar to productivity report by Spruntet al (1973) for a 12 year study of eagles nesting in the Everglades. Production of young per active territory in the South Florida Region (report by Spruntet all973) was 0.73, for this survey it was 0.65. Statewide eagles used pine (Pinus sp) as nesting sites (60.5 percent), over cypress (Taxodium sp) (14.3 percent), and red, white...

Between 1970 and 1973, 180 white ibis (Eudocimus albus) 140 adult and 40 nestlings, were collected from four fresh water and three salt water sites and their stomach contents identified. Crustacean and aquatic insects were the major food items totaling 86.4% of the total food volume. Differences exist between stomach contents of ibis collected from fresh water and salt water habitats. Those collected from fresh water habitats contained more insects and snails while those from salt water sites contained more insects of certain families and crabs.