Master Naturalist Wildlife of Long Island Module

Please go to Master Naturalists to register.  Then complete Wildlife of Long Island Meaningful Homework to receive credit.
Overview
Delve into the wildlife groups of Long Island with an overview of birds and mammals of Long Island, including their life cycles, habitats, and natural history. Will also consider how coyote, turkey, bobwhite quail and other species are returning to Long Island, and the mechanisms for their reintroductions. Become more aware of such conservation biology terms as endangered species.
  • Biodiversity refers the variety of life found; where more diverse populations are more resilient.
  • Fragmentation of habitats by over development also impacts biodiversity. Some species become isolated and can't maintain viable populations sizes, while others require large home ranges to survive.
  • ​Life Cycles are the series of changes in the life of an organism, including reproduction. Migratory cycles refer to annual or seasonal movements by birds, butterflies, whales, for example, and other migratory species.
  • ​Habitats - that which wildlife requires and includes their home range (open space needs) and their needs for cover (shelter), food, and water. That which is in short supply is known as a limiting factor. Each species requires and benefits from differing habitats.
  • Population Dynamics - up and down swings of a wildlife population across space and time.
  • Endangered and Threatened species refer to declining populations.
​Sometimes, it's not obvious or not easily identifiable as to what species would play any of the following roles:
  • Indicator Species - a species used to measure environmental health, and should specify why and what is measured.
  • Keystone Species -  a species that's critical for the healthy functioning ecosystem it lives in, not only for itself but for many other species.
  • Umbrella Species - protecting this one species helps protect many other species found in that habitat.

Nature Journal Entries

Contributed by Quality Parks Master Naturalist Graduate Kathy Clark
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Picture
Contributed By Quality Parks Master Naturalist Graduate Mary Keller

Our guide for the morning began the session by identifying a number of birds around the property and discussing whether they were native or an introduced and/or invasive (exotic) species. For example, the Starling is an introduced and invasive (or exotic) species, as is the house sparrow. After our bird discussion, our guide gave us a tour of the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, pointing out the various fish, turtles, frogs, toads and snakes while identifying those that were native to Long Island. The snakes intrigued me and I looked into this a bit more. During the day, it was mentioned that there are 11 species of snakes on Long Island. Looking at various sources, I discovered that this number various from 10 on the Group for the East End website to 13 on the Hofstra site. According to the Group for the East End, snakes found on Long Island are Eastern Milk, Northern Ringneck, Eastern Hognose, Smooth Green, Eastern Worm, Northern Black Racer, Eastern Garter, Eastern Ribbon, Northern Water and the Northern Brown Snakes. The last 4 give birth to live young. (1)

From time to time we stopped and had discussions about management of the white tailed deer, the wild turkey and the Canada goose. We also talked about the comeback of the coyote and river otter. According to the DEC “human development makes surprisingly good coyote habitat. The abundant food supply makes living close to people possible”. A study at Cornell University found that coyotes in suburbia tried to avoid dense residential areas. (2)

The Wild Turkey, which disappeared from the area in the 1840s due to “deforestation, poor hunting management and industrialization”, was reintroduced during the 1990s. After 15 years, the DEC decided that the species had made enough of a comeback to allow a short turkey hunting season of 5 days. The estimated populated is about 3000 birds. (3)  The fall 2012 bag count for Suffolk County was 110 birds. (4).

The Department of Conservation also seeks help from citizens in collecting database on furbearing animals, turkeys, frogs and toad. There are various surveys on the DEC site to report sighting of different species. Anyone interested can access the surveys at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/1155.html

Field Training
Attend Quality Parks Master Naturalist Workshop or attend two LI events (upland and marine wildlife). See below for some ideas:
References

Birds Mammals Amphibians, Insects, Snakes, Macroinvertabrates, Eels Gardening for Wildlife