Suit Asks Bird’s Habitat to Be Identified

The National Audubon Society filed suit Thursday against federal wildlife officials requesting that they identify crucial habitat for the least Bell’s vireo, a small endangered songbird that nests in the path of the proposed Foothill toll road in south Orange County.

The gray and white bird, found mostly in Riverside and San Diego counties, was listed as a national endangered species in 1986, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been studying it since then to determine which areas should be protected to ensure its survival.

Designating critical habitat could affect Orange County’s effort to build the Foothill toll road, which would run through undeveloped canyons and the northern tip of San Diego County. Vireos have been seen nesting just over the Orange County border along the road’s proposed path.

Once widespread in Central and Southern California, there are only about 300 pairs of least Bell’s vireos left. The bird needs stream-side vegetation to survive, and most rivers and creeks in Southern California have been paved.