Monday 3 September 2012

Rare California seabird reported breeding off Mendocino Coast


Scientists surveying rocky islands this week off the Mendocino County coast within the California Coastal National Monument made a remarkable discovery - several breeding sites for the Ashy Storm-Petrel, a rare and declining seabird not reported nesting in this area since 1926.

The shy grey bird hides and nests in shoreline rock crevices as deep as seven or eight feet and only emerges at dawn and dusk to avoid predators, mostly other birds. They fish in the ocean, "flitting like butterflys on the surface," according to Anna Weinstein, seabird program manager of Audubon California in Emeryville.

The four new colonies were found north of Point Arena and south of the village of Mendocino.

Finding these birds - which are under consideration for the national endangered list - is very exciting to naturalists who have watched dedicated and expensive efforts to protect the Ashy Storm-Petrel in other areas of California do little to help.

"California has invested a lot of money in restoration in the Channel and Farallon Islands," Weinstein said. "Despite those efforts, they are declining. They're getting hammered by owls, falcons and gulls, even skunks."

"This is truly our species in California," Weinstein added, noting that almost the entire worldwide population of the bird lives in California. "Now Mendocino County has a special responsibility to steward them."

Continued:
 http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_21449703/rare-california-seabird-reported-breeding-off-mendocino-coast

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