Contact:

Mary Penney, New York Sea Grant Coastal Community Development Specialist, SUNY Oswego, E: mp357@cornell.edu, P: 315-312-3042


Oswego, NY, May 27, 2014 - The diverse ecosystem known as the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes and Wetlands Area is home to many different plants and animals. Its many species of birds have adapted a variety of ways to blend in or camouflage to protect their nests and young. In this colorful fact sheet, New York Sea Grant’s Mary Penney teamed up with birding experts to describe some of the strategies birds use to protect themselves from their natural predators.

Nesting birds, their eggs and young hatchlings, are often at high risk for predation. To reduce this risk, many birds conceal their nests, eggs and young. The birds featured in the fact sheet-- Killdeer, American Bittern, Yellow Warbler and Wood Duck --use different camouflaging techniques to locate, build, and hide their nests, eggs and young from predators. For some species egg color and pattern can further help protect the developing young (eggs) prior to hatching.

This fact sheet will help familiarize the reader with this unique ecosystem’s habitat characteristics, the life cycles and camouflaging techniques of its local birds and thereby help improve a visitor’s ability to observe these birds in their natural habitat.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, which, in 2014, merges with the program's e-newsletter, Currents. NY Coastlines is published several times a year.