Huckleberry Island facts for kids
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| Location | New Rochelle, New York Long Island Sound |
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United States
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Huckleberry Island (also called Whortleberry Island) is a small island located in Long Island Sound. It's part of the city of New Rochelle, New York. This island is about three-fourths mile (1.2 km) (three-quarters of a mile) east of Davids' Island.
Huckleberry Island is about 10 acres (4.0 ha) in size. It's mostly covered by tall trees that lose their leaves in the fall, like oak and maple trees. There aren't many bushes or small plants growing under these trees. The island's rocky shoreline is home to many sea creatures that live between the high and low tide marks. This type of shoreline community is quite special for the North Atlantic Coast.
Long ago, in the 1800s, people in the area believed that the famous pirate Captain William Kidd had buried his treasure on Huckleberry Island!
Why Huckleberry Island is Important for Nature
Huckleberry Island is a very special place for wildlife. It's one of the few undisturbed natural areas left along the coast near New York City. This makes it a perfect home for many different animals.
A Home for Nesting Birds
The main reason Huckleberry Island is so important is because many kinds of waterbirds come here to build their nests. Large groups of birds like egrets and night herons raise their young here.
Besides herons and cormorants, the island also has big nesting groups of herring gulls and great black-backed gulls. In 1987, experts counted about 1,000 nesting herring gulls and 400 great black-backed gulls on the island.
- Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets: These beautiful white birds often build their nests high up in the tops of trees with thick leaves.
- Black-crowned Night Herons: These herons prefer to nest lower down in the forest, closer to the ground.
- Double-crested Cormorants: Cormorants build their nests either in the upper branches of smaller trees near the edge of the forest or at the very top of the tallest trees.
- Gulls: Most gulls nest close to the rocky edges of the island, especially at the northern end.
Other birds that might nest on the island include the green heron and the little blue heron.
Protecting the Island's Future
The National Audubon Society thinks Huckleberry Island is a very important place to protect. They listed it in their 2002 Open Space Conservation Plan.
One challenge for the island is that many cormorants nest there. Their droppings can harm and even kill trees. When trees die, it means fewer good spots for herons and egrets to build their nests. Also, there's a concern that non-native Norway maple trees might start taking over from the native hardwood trees.
