Great blue heron (fannini subspecies) COSEWIC assessement and update status report: chapter 15

Information sources, Biographical summary of report writers and Collections examined

Information sources

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Eissinger, A. 1996. Great Blue Herons of the Salish Sea: A model plan for the conservation and stewardship of coastal herons colonies. Report prepared for Trillium Corporation, ARCO Products, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington (WA).

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Elliott, J.E., R.W. Butler, R.J. Nostrom and P.E. Whitehead. 1989. Environmental contaminants and reproductive success of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in British Columbia, 1986-87. Environ. Pollut. 59:91-114.

Elliott, J.E., P.E. Whitehead, P.A. Martin, G.D. Bellward and R.J. Norstrom. 1996. Persistent pulp mill pollutants in wildlife. Pp. 297-314 in M.R. Servos, K.R. Munkittrick, J.H. Carey and G.J. Van der Kraak (eds.). Environmental fate and effects of pulp and paper mill effluents. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida.

Elliott, J. E., I. E. Moul and K. M. Cheng. 1998. Variable reproductive success of Bald Eagles on the British Columbia Coast. Journal of Wildlife Management 62:518-529.

Elliott, J.E., M.L. Harris, L.K. Wilson, P.E. Whitehead and R.J. Norstrom. 2001. Monitoring Temporal and Spatial Trends in Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and Dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in Eggs of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada, 1983–1998. Ambio 30:416-428.

Elliott, J.E., L.K. Wilson and B. Wakeford. 2005. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Trends in Eggs of Marine and Freshwater Birds from British Columbia, Canada, 1979-2002. Environmental Science and Technology 39:5584-5591.

Engelstoft, C. and L. Sopuck. 2005. Great Blue Heron surveys during the breeding period in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve/Haida Heritage Site, 2004. Unpublished report prepared for Parks Canada Agency, Gwaii Haanas Field Unit, Queen Charlotte, B.C.

Forbes, L. S. 1987. Predation on adult Great Blue Herons: is it important? Colonial Waterbirds 10:120-122.

Forbes, L. S. 1989. Coloniality in herons: Lack's predation hypothesis reconsidered. Colonial Waterbirds 12:24-29.

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Forbes, L. S., K. Simpson, J. P. Kelsall and D. R. Flook. 1985b. Great Blue Heron colonies in British Columbia. Unpublished Report, Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta.

Gebauer, M. 1995. Status and productivity of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) colonies in the lower Fraser River valley in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Unpublished Report to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Surrey, B.C.

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Gibbs, J. P. and L. K. Kinkel. 1997. Determinants of the size and location of Great Blue Heron colonies. Colonial Waterbirds 20:1-7.

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Harris M.L., J.E. Elliott, R.W. Butler and L.K. Wilson. 2003. Reproductive success and chlorinated hydrocarbon contamination of resident great blue herons (Ardea herodias) from coastal British Columbia, Canada, 1977 to 2000. Environmental Pollution 121: 207–227.

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Kjellen, N. and G. Roos. 2000. Population trends in Swedish raptors demonstrated by migration counts at Falsterbo, Sweden 1942-1997. Bird Study 47: 195-211.

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Leonard, W. 1985. Inventory of Great Blue Heron Nest Colonies in Southern and Western Puget Sound. Unpublished Report. Washington Department of Wildlife, Olympia, Washington, USA.

Mark, D. M. 1976. An Inventory of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Nesting Colonies in British Columbia. Northwest Science 50:32-41.

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McClaren, E. L. 2005. Pacific Great Blue Heron population inventory and monitoring Strait of Georgia, British Columbia 2004. Unpublished report to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Nanaimo.

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Moul, I. E., R. G. Vennesland, M. L. Harris and R. W. Butler. 2001. Standardizing and interpreting nesting records for Great Blue Herons in British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service Progress Note No. 217, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa. (http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/publications/) (1 April 2002).

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Parnell, J. F., D. G. Ainley, H. Blokpoel, B. Cain, T. W. Custer, J. L. Dusi, S. Kress, J. A. Kushlan, W. E. Southern, L. E. Stenzel and B. C. Thompson. 1988. Colonial Waterbird Management in North America. Colonial Waterbirds 11:129-345.

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Biographical summary of report writers

Ross Vennesland studied biology and physical geography at Simon Fraser University for his undergraduate education, completing his B.Sc. degree in 1996. He went on to complete his M.Sc. degree in biology at Simon Fraser University in 2000, studying the behavioural ecology and conservation biology of the Great Blue Heron. During and after his schooling, Ross worked as a private consultant for federal and provincial governments, academic institutions and other organizations, concentrating primarily on ornithological work. From 2002 to 2006, he worked as the Senior Ecosystems Biologist for Species at Risk for the Lower Mainland Region of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. In that capacity, he worked with a diverse array of organisms including birds, fish, plants, small mammals, amphibians and invertebrates and chaired several recovery teams and the South Coast Conservation Program, a landscape-level conservation program for the region. He is now the Species at Risk Recovery Specialist for Parks Canada at the Western and Northern Service Centre in Vancouver.

Rob Butler received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree at Simon Fraser University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. He is a Senior Research Scientist with Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service and Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. His research specialties are avian migration, ecology and conservation. Dr. Butler is considered a world authority on the Great Blue Heron from his doctoral research, scientific publications and his authoritative book The Great Blue Heron (Univ. of B.C. Press, 1997). Dr. Butler is a scientific advisor to the IUCN Heron Specialist Group, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and the Important Bird Areas. He is past President of the Waterbird Society, Chair and founding member of the Heron Working Group, and President of the Pacific Wildlife Foundation. He has won numerous awards for his research work on bird migration and conservation in Canada and abroad and he is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union.

Collections examined

No collections were examined for this report.

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