{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129305"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129305","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Mapping the black-crowned night heron: Uncovering the colony dynamics, hidden movements, and activity patterns of North America’s stealthiest wading bird","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Slayton, Sarah"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Natural Res & Env Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ward, Michael P.","Benson, Thomas J","Van Doren, Benjamin M."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-07","date_published":"2025-05-07","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z","subjects":["Movement Ecology","Bird","Conservation","Chicago"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Sarah Slayton"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129305","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ward, Michael P.","Benson, Thomas J","Van Doren, Benjamin M."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Slayton, Sarah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-05-07","2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Movement Ecology","Bird","Conservation","Chicago"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Sarah Slayton"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129305"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Sarah Slayton, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-01 at 20:59.","The student, Sarah Slayton, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-05-01 at 21:06.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-05-07 at 08:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22167 on 2025-10-19 at 18:11:31","Despite being the most widely distributed colonial wading bird in the world, Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax; BCNH) face substantial population declines and have been listed as a special-status species in 11 U.S. states. Amidst widespread loss or conversion of their preferred wetland habitat, this species has shown remarkable flexibility in its breeding habitat selection, nesting in a variety of natural and anthropogenic landscapes. In Illinois, the last major BCNH rookery in the state is located at the Lincoln Park Zoo near downtown Chicago. Although nesting in an urban center is inherently risky, this colony appears to be thriving. However, little research has been conducted on how these birds acquire resources and use city habitats to cope with the environmental pressures posed by urban living. To better understand patterns in their colony site preferences, I conducted a nationwide review of historical and extant BCNH colonies to explore trends in their geographical and biological characteristics. While BCNH were recorded nesting in nearly every U.S. state, in over 50 species of vegetation, and with over 30 different species of colonial wading or non-wading waterbirds, there were clear patterns in their colony composition. I also studied the movements of individual birds during the breeding season in Chicago using GPS/GSM satellite transmitters. These trackers have shown that BCNH forage in a wide variety of natural and highly modified waterbodies and revealed unexpected patterns in behavior between breeding and non-breeding birds in terms of their home range size, habitat selection, and activity patterns. This investigation of both fine scale and broader trends in BCNH habitat requirements during the breeding season will inform conservation efforts for this declining species in Illinois and beyond."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mapping the black-crowned night heron: Uncovering the colony dynamics, hidden movements, and activity patterns of North America’s stealthiest wading bird"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ward, Michael P.","Benson, Thomas J","Van Doren, Benjamin M."],"dc:creator":["Slayton, Sarah"],"dc:date":["2025-05-07","2025-05"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Sarah Slayton, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-01 at 20:59.","The student, Sarah Slayton, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-05-01 at 21:06.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-05-07 at 08:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22167 on 2025-10-19 at 18:11:31","Despite being the most widely distributed colonial wading bird in the world, Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax; BCNH) face substantial population declines and have been listed as a special-status species in 11 U.S. states. Amidst widespread loss or conversion of their preferred wetland habitat, this species has shown remarkable flexibility in its breeding habitat selection, nesting in a variety of natural and anthropogenic landscapes. In Illinois, the last major BCNH rookery in the state is located at the Lincoln Park Zoo near downtown Chicago. Although nesting in an urban center is inherently risky, this colony appears to be thriving. However, little research has been conducted on how these birds acquire resources and use city habitats to cope with the environmental pressures posed by urban living. To better understand patterns in their colony site preferences, I conducted a nationwide review of historical and extant BCNH colonies to explore trends in their geographical and biological characteristics. While BCNH were recorded nesting in nearly every U.S. state, in over 50 species of vegetation, and with over 30 different species of colonial wading or non-wading waterbirds, there were clear patterns in their colony composition. I also studied the movements of individual birds during the breeding season in Chicago using GPS/GSM satellite transmitters. These trackers have shown that BCNH forage in a wide variety of natural and highly modified waterbodies and revealed unexpected patterns in behavior between breeding and non-breeding birds in terms of their home range size, habitat selection, and activity patterns. This investigation of both fine scale and broader trends in BCNH habitat requirements during the breeding season will inform conservation efforts for this declining species in Illinois and beyond."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129305"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Sarah Slayton"],"dc:subject":["Movement Ecology","Bird","Conservation","Chicago"],"dc:title":["Mapping the black-crowned night heron: Uncovering the colony dynamics, hidden movements, and activity patterns of North America’s stealthiest wading bird"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z"}