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Health & Fitness

Ballona Endangered Bird: Belding's Savannah Sparrow

Belding’s Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi), is a non-migratory sparrow subspecies found only along the coast of southern California and northern Baja California.  Belding’s range is narrowly restricted to saltwater marsh habitats dominated by pickleweed (Salicornia virginica).  Recognized as endangered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Belding’s is one of only two tidal wetland-dependent bird species in California (post a comment if you know the other one :).

Belding’s places its nest in dense marsh vegetation, on or near the ground, concealed from above. Pickleweed, shore grass, and saltwort are its preferred nest plants, and nesting success is higher where the plants are denser and taller (1).  Belding’s Sparrow was one of the species whose eggs were most avidly sought by early collectors (and that certainly didn’t help the species).

Statewide censuses of Belding’s, most recently in 2010, suggest that the species is holding its own, but many threats to its habitat persist.  Zembel and Hoffman surveyed thirty coastal salt marshes for Belding’s in 2010 (2). They detected breeding behaviors in 29 of these wetlands from Devereux and Goleta Sloughs in Santa Barbara County on the north to Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge on the Mexican border. At least 3,372 breeding territories were detected in 2010, the highest state total reported since periodic counts began in 1973 (good news).

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According to Zembel and Hoffman, “the major need of this little endangered songbird remains habitat restoration, security, and management. Most of southern California’s former tidal wetlands have been lost and the remainder suffers ongoing degradation. The long-term fate of a few of the occupied wetlands is still uncertain and most are affected by trespass and the side effects of so many millions of people living on their edges and in their watersheds. Counteracting these problems by rebuilding a larger habitat base, with better security, and increased management would greatly benefit a significant suite of species with which the Belding’s shares its habitat.” 

Restoring tidal marsh and establishing well regulated public access at Ballona would certainly help this cause.

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In 1992, Red Foxes were trapped and removed from the Ballona Wetlands as part of a recovery program for the Belding’s Savannah Sparrow.  The Red Fox population was expanding, and one of their prey was the Belding’s.  Tensions became so high that the L.A. City Attorney filed criminal charges against an animal-rights and fox advocate who allegedly threatened an environmentalist who supported the trapping program (3).

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands! And, keep your cool!

www.ballonafriends.org

(1) Abby N. Powell and Christine L. Collier, 1998, Reproductive Success of Belding's Savannah Sparrows in a Highly Fragmented Landscape, U.S. Geological Survey, California Science Center and Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA.  The Auk 115(2):508-513, 1998.

 (2)  Richard Zembal and Susan M. Hoffman, 2010, A survey of the Belding’s Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi) in California, 2010, Clapper Rail Recovery Fund, Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, P.O. Box 5903, Huntington Beach, CA 92615, September 2010.

 (3) Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1992

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