Snowy Plover Candidate for Threatened List

The western snowy plover, a small bird that nests along beaches in Oregon, Washington, California and Mexico, has been proposed for listing as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The bird’s nesting grounds include the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach.

The agency estimates there are fewer than 1,500 of the birds remaining.

Declines in nesting and breeding areas in the three West Coast states have been documented, the Fish and Wildlife Service said. Twenty-eight breeding areas have been identified by the agency.

Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have yet to determine the location of the birds’ critical habitat.

The pale-colored birds primarily nest in sand spits and beaches. They migrate south of the Oregon-California border in winter, most of them going south of Bodega Bay.

The population is threatened primarily by human disturbance, the loss of nesting habitat to development and encroachment by European beach grass on nesting grounds, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

At some sites, the birds are also victims of predators, particularly crows, ravens and red foxes.

The proposal does not affect a separate population of the birds that live inland in Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas.

A spokesman for the California Fish and Game Commission said it is doubtful that a listing for the snowy plover would affect the Bolsa Chica area, since the wetlands are protected by the presence of other endangered species.

The National Audubon Society petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in March, 1988, to list the Pacific Coast population of the western snowy plover as a threatened species.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Jannette Smith said that the agency decided in November, 1988, that enough information had been gathered to indicate substantial action may be warranted.

The agency will accept public comment on the proposal for 60 days. A final decision on the list is expected in January, 1993.