Cattle Egrets recorded per party hr on the Kapa'a Christmas Count, Kaua'i,
1971-
2014 (see Count
Page). The data indicate declines (both
here and on the Honolulu and Lihue Christmas Counts) after initial
island-wide expansion in population and abundance, beginning with release in1959
and peaking around 1980. Despite the declines, Cattle Egrets remain a
common sight in Hawaii and are regarded as pests, posing hazards to
aircraft and predating the nests of native waterbirds.
Species account
Graphs of Christmas Count data developed as part
of The Birds of the Hawaiian
Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and
Status by Robert L. Pyle and Peter Pyle http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/