Cattle Egrets recorded per party hr on the Kapa'a Christmas Count, Kaua'i,
1971- 2007 (see Count
Page). The data indicate general
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 in the early 1970s. 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. 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/2009/