Birding At The Rock - sea birds of Alcatraz Island

Flower & Garden Magazine, Oct, 2000 by Terra Hangen

Once an infamous penitentiary housing the likes of mobsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, Alcatraz Island now hosts scores of nesting seabirds

In a delightful twist of fate, Alcatraz Island, once home of the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, is being taken over by large colonies of birds. Visitors' spirits will be uplifted when they see the contrast between the empty cells and crumbling walls of the old penitentiary and the vigorous seabird colonies. Before this bird renaissance, the island had a gloomy air, as you might expect in a place that for decades housed the nation's most desperate criminals. But even before the penitentiary was built, this island was a forbidding presence in the San Francisco Bay.

In 1775, Don Juan Manuel de Ayala, a lieutenant in the Spanish navy, bestowed the name of Isla de los Alcatraces, or "Island of the Pelicans," upon a nearby island, now called Yerba Buena Island. He was inspired to give it this name because it appeared to be completely covered with pelicans, but he did not attempt to land at either island, because they looked bleak and offered no shelter for his ship. Later, in 1826, a British navy surveyor unwittingly transferred the name Alcatraz Island to the place that bears this name today.

From this inauspicious beginning, Alcatraz eventually became the site of the West Coast's first lighthouse, which was built in 1854 to guide ships safely through the narrow entrance to San Francisco Bay. A short time later, the island became a military fort with massive fortifications and more than 100 cannons, guarding the bay from 1859-to-1907. Concurrently, Alcatraz was used as a military prison, housing a variety of Confederate sympathizers, unruly soldiers, and suspected spies. Its use as a military prison lasted right up through 1933. And then, on January 1, 1934--in response to the crime wave that swept America during the Prohibition Era--Alcatraz became the nation's first maximum security prison, a place where only the most dangerous, incorrigible criminals were held. During the 29 years it was in operation, Alcatraz held an average of 264 inmates at a time. The prison has been referred to as America's Devil's Island or, by the inmates, as "Hellcatraz." But another nickname, "The Rock," was probably most apt, because the island used to consist only of rocks rising 130 feet above the sea, bare of any vegetation and lacking a source of fresh water. Exposed to almost continual winds and fog, the temperature was uncomfortably cold most of the time.

Since the prison was decommissioned in 1963, many birds have begun nesting on Alcatraz, making use of vegetation that was originally planted in gardens by the prison guards and their families but has since spread, creating a hospitable environment for a number of bird species. The National Park Service, as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, has managed Alcatraz Island since 1972. The Park Service recognizes the benefits of having seabird colonies on the island and now employs researchers to study these birds and provide interpretive talks for visitors.

Each summer, Brett Carre, an interpretive ranger and natural resource specialist at Alcatraz, presents a program called "Birdland of Alcatraz" for visitors. According to Carre, the main bird species on Alcatraz is the Western Gull. In 1998, researchers counted about 510 Western Gull nests, which is higher than their five-year average. Carre says that his appreciation of these gulls has grown significantly since he began studying them. They are highly intelligent, he points out, and can recognize him in a crowd of 200 people. They sound the alarm whenever they see him, because for their safety he occasionally has to move their nests a few feet from the road--which the gulls evidently don't appreciate. "These gulls mate for life," Carre explains. "To get a mate, the female approaches the male, with her head held low and her voice mewing," he says. "If the male is interested, he regurgitates a piece of fish for her and that's love--they're a lifetime item!"

Cormorants had abandoned Alcatraz, but they began returning in the 1990s. "In 1999, we had more than 248 Brandt's Cormorant nests and about 19 Pelagic Cormorant nests on the western cliffs of the island," says Carre. "We also had 21 Pigeon Guillemot nests and at least one Black Oyster Catcher nest." Daphne Hatch, the Park's wildlife biologist, says that in 1998 the Park also provided a sanctuary for about 240 Black-crowned Night Heron and 15 Snowy Egret nests. Only three pairs of Snowy Egrets nested there the previous year.

Although Alcatraz has no feral cats, which would be a major threat to the nesting birds, Norway rats were seen recently for the first time. For ground-nesting birds, these rats pose a danger, but the Park staff is developing a plan to control them.

Hatch says that the number of Brandt's Cormorant nests decreased from 220 to about 130 in 1998. The reason for this decline is not clear, though Hatch says that boaters who came too close to their colony during the nest-initiation stage may have been a contributing factor. Yet, overall, humans have played a key role in making the island a more hospitable home for bird colonies. When the fort was built, soil and plants were brought in, primarily from Angel Island. Most of the ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees now growing on Alcatraz were planted during the lengthy time that the island was a military fort and later a federal penitentiary. Carre says that today, the extensive ivy and mirror bush has allowed Black-crowned Night Herons to occupy the island in a big way. Last year had the third highest total of Night Heron nests in nine years.