Upper Newport Bay in Newport Beach is home to nearly 200
species of birds, including several endangered species.
The Bay is an important stopover for migrating
birds on the Pacific Flyway and up to 30,000 birds can be seen here
on any day during the winter months.
Upper Newport Bay is one of the top birding sites
in the country. The Sea and Sage Audubon Society
conducts a monthly bird count at the Bay in conjunction with the
California Department of Fish and Game and the NBNF. The counts are
conducted from aboard an electric boat donated by Duffy Electric
Boat Company to the DFG and piloted by a NBNF Naturalist. For more
information and bird count results, visit the Sea and Sage Bird
Counts page.
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Endangered
and threatened birds found at Upper Newport Bay. Listings as of
September, 2001.
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Common
name
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Scientific
Name
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Listing
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Light-footed
clapper rail
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Rallus
longirostris levipes
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FE,
SE
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California
least tern
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Sterna
antillarum browni
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FE,
SE
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Brown
pelican
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Pelecanus
occidentalis
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SE
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Peregrine
falcon
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Falco
peregrinus anatum
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SE
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Belding’s
savannah sparrow
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Passerculus
sandwichensis beldingi
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SE
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Coastal
California gnatcatcher
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Polioptila
californica californica
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FT
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FE
– Federal Endangered
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FT
– Federal Threatened
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SE
– State Endangered
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ST
– State Threatened
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The light-footed clapper
rail is endangered by habitat loss. This reclusive bird builds its
nest in the cordgrass by weaving a basket of loose grass strands
around the stems of growing cordgrass. This basket then floats up
and down as the tide rises and falls in the saltmarsh. The cordgrass
of Upper Newport Bay grows taller than in other southern California
saltmarsh areas, enabling the clapper rail to interweave the tops of
the cordgrass to form a canopy over the top of the nest thus
protecting it from predators flying overhead and preventing it from
floating away on a very high tide. It is believed that the
over-abundance of fertilizer in the freshwater run-off into the bay
contributes to the prodigious growth. It is believed that Upper
Newport Bay is the only location where light-footed clapper rails
successfully breeds in the wild.
The least tern builds its nest by scraping a small hollow in the
sand or other shoreline terrain in which it lays its eggs.
Historically it has nested along the beaches of southern California.
However, with the booming population has come an army of beach-goers
who have deterred the least tern from nesting or who have
accidentally destroyed eggs that lie camouflaged in the sand.
Historical nesting sites such as an area along PCH just north of the
mouth of the Santa Ana river have been fenced to protect the
breeding least terns. Here at Upper Newport Bay the least tern nests
on Tern and Skimmer Islands in the northeast corner of the bay. The
least tern as well as other terns and skimmers arrive from Central
America in the spring and spend the summer here.
The brown pelican was threatened with extinction because of the
harmful effects of the pesticide DDT that was widely used in the
1950's. This pesticide accumulates in the fatty tissue of wildlife,
and at each level in the food chain the pesticide concentration is
magnified. The brown pelican - a large fish eater - accumulated such
high concentrations of DDT in its body that the DDT caused the
pelican to give birth to eggs with shells too thin and fragile to
incubate. Fortunately the use of DDT was banned in the USA in 1972,
and populations of brown pelicans and other affected populations
have made a comeback. The brown pelican is now commonly seen diving
for fish in Upper Newport Bay. It was federally delisted in 1985.
The peregrine falcon was also threatened by DDT. Its population has
also recovered and it was federally delisted in 1999. The peregrine
falcon preys on other birds by diving at them at incredible speeds,
stunning them, and then catching them from below. This bird is not
seen often at the bay.
Belding's savanna sparrow is a small finch that likes to nest in the
pickleweed of the Upper Newport Bay saltmarsh. It is endangered by
loss of habitat.
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