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Shorebirds of the Sacramento Valley, California

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Shorebirds of the Sacramento Valley, California SHOREBIRDS OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA TIM MANOLIS, 4409 44th Avenue, Sacramento,California 95824 GERALD V. TANGREN, 9703 Woodworth Avenue, Gig Harbor, Washington 98335 Shorebirdstudies in the Central Valley of California have been limit- ed even though the status and ecology of shorebirdsalong the coastof central California have been well studied (Storer 1951, Recher 1966, Page 1973). Consequently,many of the conclusionsregarding shore- birds in central California have been based on information from coastal localities (Grinnell et al. 1918, Grinnell and Miller 1944, McCaskie and DeBenedictis1966). In recent years, however, shorebirdmigration in the SacramentoValley (Figure 1) has come under increasedobservation. Censusesat the SprecklesSugar Company settlingponds near Woodland, Yolo County, and at the SacramentoNational Wildlife Refuge, Glenn County, have been included in statewide shorebird surveysof the Cali- fornia Department of Fish and Game (Jurek 1973). Many observers have watched the Woodland ponds,in addition to the nearby Woodland and Davis city sewageponds, during the past fifteen yearsand have as- sembledinformation on shorebird migration in eastern Yolo County. Also, Manolis censusedshorebirds at the Chico sewage ponds, Butte County, duringspring 1971 and springand fall 1972. One possiblereason why shorebird data are lacking from the Cen- tral Valley is that shorebird habitat is relatively limited. The main feature of the SacramentoValley is the extensivesystem of the Sacra- mento River and its tributaries. Historically these rivers flooded large areas in spring to form marsh and pond habitats for spring migrants. These areas are now under flood control and, therefore, are not as ex- tensive or attractive ro shorebirds as they once were. Some native shorebirdhabitat hasbeen replacedwith rice farming,which sufficesfor somebreeding (stilts and avocets) and migrant (curlews, yellowlegs, etc.) species.Numerous vernal pools provide habitat in someareas of the val- ley and in the adjacentfoothills wherethey are supplementedwith farm ponds and reservoirs. Shorebirdssuch as ploversand curlewsalso use the plowed fields, pasturesand grasslandsthat make up much of the region. By summermost naturalbodies of water,except for the rivers and permanent streams,have dried up, leaving artificial areassuch as waste water ponds as the major shorebird feeding areas in fall until winterrains replenish the naturalhabitats. The largestconcentrations of shorebirdsin springare alsofound at thesewaste ponds, indicating that they contain more than just the necessaryhabitat structureto attract shorebirds. WesternBirds 6:45-54, 1975 45 SHOREBIRDS 1 ß CHICO w,..ows ß • &•-o.ov,..• • GRIDLEY • . • T=l, •A.•SWLLE WOODLANDe6! 8 • DAVIS ß • ; lO MI. SACRAMENTO FAIRFIELD ß THORNTON •10 VISTA Figure1. Thelower Sacramento Valley. Numbers refer to thefollowing locations: 1) Chicosewage ponds, 2) ThermalitoForebay and Afterbay, 3) LakeOroville, 4) SacramentoNational Wildlife Refuge, 5) GrayLodge Wildlife Area, 6) Wood- landsugar ponds, 7) YoloBypass, 8) Davissewage ponds, 9) FolsomLake, 10) delta of the SacramentoRiver and San JoaquinRiver systems,11) Sutter Buttes. 46 SHOREBIRDS The following annotated list is an attempt to summarizethe avail- able data on the status of shorebirdsin the SacramentoValley. It is based primarily upon our notes, but we also used the notes of other observers,particularly Sacramentoarea birders' observationscompiled by Betty Kimball; the literature;and the CaliforniaShorebird Surveys (Jurek 1971, 1972, 1973). Because most observations on which this paper is basedare from eastern Yolo County, they may not provide an accuratepicture for the entireSacramento Valley. Webelieve though, from observationselsewhere in the valley, that most of the generali- zations apply to the entire valley with the possibleexceptions of the northern counties, Shasta and Tehama. The following abundanceterms used here are adapted from Bull (1964) and McCaskie (1970): Very abundant-over 1000 individualsper day per locality Abundant-201 to 1000 individualsper day per locality Very common-51 to 200 individualsper day per locality Common-21 to 50 individualsper day per locality Fairly Common-7 to 20 individualsper day per locality Uncommon-1 to 6 individualsper day per locality Rare-1 to 6 individualsper season Very Rare-perhapsregular, but not found everyyear Casual-3 to 6 records of occurrence Whendata are availableand meaningful,extreme early and late dates of the periodsof migrationfor lesscommon migrants are given. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER (Cbaradriussemipalmatus): Uncommon to fairly commonin spring(10 April to 23 May, peakin lateApril, earlyMay) andin early fall(28 Julyto mid-August),rare to uncommonin latefall (mid-Augustto 21 Sep- tember),and very rare in winterwhen confined to the southernend of the valley. This speciesis far more common along the central California coast than in the valley, especiallyin fall. SNOWY PLOVER (C. alexandrinus):A rarespring migrant (1 April to 4 May). Casualin fall (see Appendix). Snowy Plovershave nested twice in easternYolo County, at the Davis sewageponds in 1963 (DeBenedictis and Chase 1963) and at the Woodlandsugar ponds in 1970 (Baldridgeet al. 1970). Thisplover was possiblymore commonin the past in the SacramentoValley, but was neveras common in the SacramentoValley as in more alkaline areasof the state, suchas the SanJoaquin Valley (Grinnellet al. 1918). Furthernesting in the Sacramento Valley should be looked for. KILLDEER (C. vociferus): A common to abundant resident, most numerous in fall and winter when it is found in flocksin plowedfields and pastures.In other seasonsit is widely distributedin pairsand smallgroups. Censusesat Wood- land indicate a populationpeak, possiblyof migrants,in mid-September(Jurek 1972), but this peak could also representresidents concentrated around the lim- ited water present at that time. MOUNTAIN PLOVER (C. montanus): Locally fairly common to very com- mon in winter south of the Sutter Buttes (October to mid-May), but found regu- larly only in easternYolo County, in sparselyvegetated fields. 47 SHOREBIRDS AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER (Pluvialis dominica): A very rare fall mi- grant. There are two winter records(see Appendix). This speciesis usually found with Black-belliedPlovers in fields and pastures. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (P. squatarola): Fairly common to abundant in spring(late February to April) nearly throughoutthe valley, althoughrecords are lackingfor the regioneast of the SacramentoRiver and north of Marysville. Abun- dant in fall (late July to October, peak in mid-September)and fairly commonin winter in the valley south of the Sutter Buttes; casual north of there in these seasons. A few may oversummeras occasionallyone or two have been found at the Woodland sugar ponds in this season. This speciesis found primarily in grassyfields, pasturesand, to a lesserextent, at ponds. RUDDY TURNSTONE (Arenaria interpres): A casual fall migrant (see Ap- pendix), this specieshas been found almost annually in recent years. COMMON SNIPE (Capella gallinago): Uncommon in spring (mid-February to ß May, peak in early March), fairly common in fall (mid-August to November, peak in early November), and uncommonin winter. Snipe are found primarily along sloughsand in wet fields and pastures. EUROPEAN JACKSNIPE (Lymnocryptes minimus): There is one record, the only one for California, of a bird collected near Gridley, Butte County, on 20 November 1938 (McLean 1939). LONG-BILLED CURLEW (Numeniusamericanus): Very commonto abundant in spring (March to May, peak in late March) and abundant in fall (late June to October, peak in mid-September). An abundantwinter residentfrom Butte Coun- ty south. In the SacramentoValley, these birds prefer fields and pasturesand use pond areas primarily for resting rather than feeding. In most years a few birds are presentthrough the summer,but are not known to nest. WHIMBREL (N. pbaeopus): Uncommon to very common in spring(April to mid-May), when it is often found in singlespecies flocks. Virtually all spring recordsare for the valley west of the SacramentoRiver. Very rare in fall and winter, whenone to a few are occasionallyfound in flocksof Long-billedCurlews. SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actiris macularia): An uncommon spring migrant (mid-March to early June, peak in early May), fall migrant (mid-July to mid- October,peak in August),and winter resident. Uncommonin summeron gravel bars along streamsand riverssouth at leastto ColusaCounty; found nestingalong the SacramentoRiver in Butte County in 1973 (Gaines 1974). This speciesalso occursat waste water ponds in migration. SOLITARY SANDPIPER (Tringa solitaria): A very rare migrant in spring(mid- April to mid-May) and a rare migrantin fall. GREATER YELLOWLEGS (T. melanoleuca): A fairly common spring mi- grant(mid-March to mid-May,peak in earlyApril), when manybirds move through the foothill regionson both sidesof the valley usingponds and streamswhich are usually dry in fall. A commonfall migrant (mid-July to mid-October,peak in early September) and uncommon winter resident, frequenting pond edges, rivers and streams. LESSER YELLOWLEGS (T. fiavipes): A very rare springmigrant (April), an uncommonto fairly common fall migrant (27 June to 12 October, peak in early September)and a rare winter resident. This speciesappears to be more common in the SacramentoValley than alongthe centralCalifornia coast. WILLET (Catoptropborussemipalmatus): A rare spring migrant (April) and a rare to uncommonfall migrant (8 July to 20 September).
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