Rare Bird Could Drop a Bombshell

It’s only about the size of your hand, and its song sounds like a kitten’s mew, but the sighting of a rare song sparrow here is enough to cause a big stir.

Biologists hired to review a proposed 577-home development in Moorpark spotted two pairs of the rare Coastal California gnatcatcher a few months ago, confirming earlier sightings.

They are probably the first sightings of the bird--thought to have been pushed out of the area long ago--in Ventura County in more than a century.

Although the songbird once lived in coastal sage habitat in Ventura County, scientists say that the northernmost known habitat for the species is now more than 50 miles south of Moorpark in the Whittier and Montebello hills.

“It’s quite a significant finding,” said ornithologist Mark Holmgren.

Holmgren, the associate director of the Museum of Systematics and Ecology at UC Santa Barbara, said the sighting could mean that there are many more of the birds in the county.

“The assumption has always been that the bird wasn’t [in Ventura County],” Holmgren said. “Well, the bird is there, and there is other suitable habitat that [the gnatcatcher] may be using.”

Such talk worries some developers who have pending projects in the county. Efforts to preserve the gnatcatcher’s habitat in Southern California have stalled hundreds of millions of dollars worth of development and sparked the “gnatcatcher wars” between developers and conservationists.

The bird, on a federal list of threatened species, is also considered a state “species of concern” because of the loss of its coastal habitat.

Warring parties in Orange County recently settled their dispute after three years of negotiations.

That settlement, which was lauded by President Clinton, resulted in the creation of a 37,000-acre preserve designed to protect the rare coastal habitat of the species while allowing developers more certainty in building outside that preserve.

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Although local officials say there is not yet any evidence that the species will interfere with any development in the area, the news of the finding stalled the review of a plan to expand a large aggregate mining operation outside Moorpark.

It’s still unclear how the sightings might affect the housing development planned for where the birds were found, but the news has led to the resurveys of a number of other projects in Moorpark, including a huge 3,221-home development on the edge of town and a multimillion-dollar industrial complex planned for the city’s east side.

“The bird hasn’t been found in any of those other areas,” said city planner Debra Traffenstedt.

Environmental surveys were redone by consultants hired by the city to look at the proposed site for the $20-million Special Device complex; the lower Happy Camp Canyon Park, where a road is planned; and for the Hidden Creek Ranch development, where the Irvine-based Messenger Investment Co. wants to build 3,221 homes.

When he was told about the sighting, said Messenger Vice President Gary Austin, his first thought was, “Gee, I hope they are not on our property, because it just complicates things.”

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Extensive surveys of the Messenger property conducted in March and April found no sign of the birds.

“We were told that there just isn’t much of the type of habitat that they like on the property,” Austin said.

But scientists said that Happy Camp Canyon and the area between Moorpark and the Santa Clara River have plenty of suitable coastal sage habitat that could sustain the bird.

Dave Pereksta, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Ventura, said the sighting means that environmental reviews of other projects in the area should include surveys for gnatcatchers.

The first sighting apparently occurred last year and was only recently confirmed when an environmental consultant who has experience in gnatcatcher surveys was hired by the city to look at the area. The birds were spotted on several occasions by several different scientists, Pereksta said.

“We were surprised when we heard about it,” he said. “We thought these habitats could support gnatcatchers, but historically they just haven’t been there. Now that we’ve seen them, we can look at other areas with coastal sage habitat and say that those areas are also possible.”

The birds, which feed on insects, were seen feeding and nesting, and young birds were seen in one nest. A second nest was later abandoned, Pereksta said.

The only other survey being done now is on property owned by the Transit Mix Concrete Co. on Happy Camp Road. The company’s plan to increase the size of the mining operation by about one-third is now being reviewed by the county’s Resource Management Agency, said Lou Merzario, a county planner handling the project.

Merzario said Moorpark city officials brought the news of the bird to the county’s attention a few weeks ago and that a new survey would delay review of the project until June. He said he was not aware of any other county projects that could be affected by the gnatcatcher.

“That doesn’t mean there are none, it just means I’m too busy with this project to be able to tell you if it could effect anything else,” Merzario said.