Western Snowy Plover Gets Threatened Species Status : Wildlife: U.S. protection of the shorebird, whose nesting area includes Bolsa Chica wetlands, is not expected to affect private landowners or development.

A sand-colored shorebird that camouflages its eggs and chicks on California beaches has been listed as a threatened species, triggering federal protection of the bird and its nesting grounds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday.

The western snowy plover nests in 20 areas from San Diego Bay to the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, as well as eight sites in Oregon and Washington.

In California, beaches already are public lands, so the protection of the snowy plover will not affect private landowners or development plans. However, some recreational use of beaches and government beach activities--such as the Marines’ use of artillery and heavy equipment at Camp Pendleton--could be impacted, said Loren Hayes, a biologist with the federal wildlife agency.

When a species is designated as threatened or endangered, federal law prohibits harming or harassing it without the permission of the wildlife agency.

A five-year federal review of the Western snowy plover’s status didn’t attract nearly the attention or opposition as did similar proposals to protect the California gnatcatcher and other species in urban areas of Southern California.

In part, that is because the shorebird nests on publicly owned lands, while the gnatcatcher is a tiny songbird that makes its home in sagebrush, much of it found in valuable, privately owned coastal land scheduled for development. The federal wildlife agency faces a March 17 deadline for deciding whether to list the gnatcatcher.

Daniel Taylor, the National Audubon Society’s western regional representative, said the biggest controversy over the plover was in Oregon, where some public beaches will now be closed to dune buggies and other off-road vehicles. The listing may also affect plans in Oregon’s Coos Bay, where developers have sought the expansion of a port that would damage plover nesting grounds.

“It was not controversial in California,” Taylor said. “The main opposition came out of Oregon. But in the wake of the northern spotted owl and other species, it got lost in the controversy” in Oregon.

Fewer than 1,500 plovers--pale, sparrow-sized birds with dark patches--exist, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Twenty-one are known to nest at the Bolsa Chica reserve; 72 in northern San Diego County, mostly at Camp Pendleton; and 57 at south San Diego Bay, mainly on Navy property. The rest are on the Channel Islands, at Bodega Bay and in other coastal areas of Northern California, as well as in Washington and Oregon.

The bird’s Southern California breeding areas, including Bolsa Chica, already are off limits to the public. In some Northern California spots, the federal wildlife agency probably will require warning signs and fences to ensure that the plovers are left undisturbed.

The major reason snowy plovers are threatened with extinction is that they lay their eggs on wet, sandy areas of beaches, where their well-camouflaged nests and chicks are crushed. Unfortunately for the plovers, their breeding occurs during peak beach-going season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The birds are also imperiled by the loss of beaches to parking lots and roads, as well as predation by red foxes, crows and other animals, wildlife officials said.

The National Audubon Society petitioned the federal agency to protect the bird in 1988.

The plover was declared “threatened” instead of “endangered” because federal biologists believed the bird is “likely to become” endangered but is not in imminent danger of extinction. Protections under the law, however, are the same for both designations.

Snowy Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) Description: Small, pale plover with incomplete black breast band; male has slim black bill, dark legs and dark ear patch; females and immature birds may lack black plumage. Habitat: Beaches, sandy flats. Diet: Insects, worms, mollusks and small fish. Voice: Low-pitched krut or high-pitched pe-wee-ah or ku-wheet. Courtship: Male scrapes bill in dirt, raises wing and puffs throat feathers. Nest: In depressions along shoreline; marked and hidden with twigs and grass; tan eggs with dark marks.

Sources: “The Birder’s Handbook,” “Western Birds.” Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times