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Birds on San Clemente Island, As Part of Our Work Toward the Recovery of the Island’S Endangered Species

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Birds on San Clemente Island, As Part of Our Work Toward the Recovery of the Island’S Endangered Species WESTERN BIRDS Volume 36, Number 3, 2005 THE BIRDS OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND BRIAN L. SULLIVAN, PRBO Conservation Science, 4990 Shoreline Hwy., Stinson Beach, California 94970-9701 (current address: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, New York 14850) ERIC L. KERSHNER, Institute for Wildlife Studies, 2515 Camino del Rio South, Suite 334, San Diego, California 92108 With contributing authors JONATHAN J. DUNN, ROBB S. A. KALER, SUELLEN LYNN, NICOLE M. MUNKWITZ, and JONATHAN H. PLISSNER ABSTRACT: From 1992 to 2004, we observed birds on San Clemente Island, as part of our work toward the recovery of the island’s endangered species. We increased the island’s bird list to 317 species, by recording many additional vagrants and seabirds. The list includes 20 regular extant breeding species, 6 species extirpated as breeders, 5 nonnative introduced species, and 9 sporadic or newly colonizing breeding species. For decades San Clemente Island had been ravaged by overgrazing, especially by goats, which were removed completely in 1993. Since then, the island’s vegetation has begun recovering, and the island’s avifauna will likely change again as a result. We document here the status of that avifauna during this transitional period of re- growth, between the island’s being largely denuded of vegetation and a more natural state. It is still too early to evaluate the effects of the vegetation’s still partial recovery on birds, but the beginnings of recovery may have enabled the recent colonization of small numbers of Grasshopper Sparrows and Lazuli Buntings. Sponsored by the U. S. Navy, efforts to restore the island’s endangered species continue—among birds these are the Loggerhead Shrike and Sage Sparrow. The avifauna of islands presents special opportunites for both birdwatch- ers and scientists alike. The California Channel Islands are renowned for their unique avifauna, both the islands as a whole and San Clemente Island (SCI) alone. SCI is the southernmost of the Channel Islands (32° 50' N, 118° 30' W; Figure 1). It lies 103 km west-northwest of San Diego and 92 km from the nearest point on the mainland (Palos Verdes), although Santa Catalina Island is only 34 km to the north. Because the Channel Islands vary in their distance to the mainland, their ecologies differ. The theory of island biogeography suggests that immigrants from the mainland are more likely to reach the larger inshore islands (e.g., Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina), so these islands should have avifaunas more 158 Western Birds 36:158–273, 2005 THE BIRDS OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND Figure 1. The California Channel Islands. San Clemente is the southermost island, located approximately 90 km off the mainland. like those of the nearby mainland than should the outlying islands (e.g., San Nicolas and San Clemente) (MacArthur and Wilson 1967, Brown and Gibson 1983). However, the degree of endemism on the Channel Islands is strik- ing (Howell 1917, Diamond 1969, Johnson 1972). Of approximately 41 breeding landbirds on the Channel Islands, 32% (13 species) show effects of insular isolation. Twenty-one endemic subspecies have been described, typically characterized by coloration darker and bills larger than those of their mainland relatives, although the validity of some of these is doubtful or has been disproven (Johnson 1972; Table 1). Only one of the islands’ endemic birds is currently ranked as a species, likely because the islands are continental rather than oceanic; that is, they lie too close to the mainland to have followed too independent an evolutionary path. Of the eight Channel Islands, San Clemente has the most distinctive flora and fauna. Despite its relatively small size (148 km2, making it the fourth largest of the Channel Islands), SCI is home to a large number of species found only on the Channel Islands or nowhere else. There are or were 56 species or subspecies (19 terrestrial invertebrates, 1 reptile, 7 birds, and 29 plants) known from SCI that are endemic to the Channel Islands and 49 species or subspecies (30 terrestrial invertebrates, 3 birds, 2 mammals, and 14 plants) endemic to SCI alone. San Clemente Island’s high level of endemism is likely due to its being more isolated from other land masses than are the other large Channel Islands. 159 160 Table 1 Status of Birds Endemic and Nearly Endemic to the Channel Islands and San Clemente Island Species Scientific Name Channel Islands San Clemente Island California Quail Callipepla californica catalinensis Common on Santa Catalina — Allen’s Hummingbird Selasphorus sasin sedentarius a Common Common Pacific-slope Flycatcher Empidonax difficilis insulicola Common Common Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus anthonyi Rare on Santa Catalina/Santa Cruz — THE BIRDSOFSANCLEMENTEISLAND Lanius ludovicianus mearnsi — Federally Endangered c Hutton’s Vireo Vireo huttoni unitti Uncommon on Santa Catalina — Island Scrub Jay Aphelocoma insularis Common on Santa Cruz — Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris insularis Abundant Abundant Bewick’s Wren Thryomanes bewickii leucophrys — Extinct c Thryomanes bewickii catalinae b Common on Santa Catalina — Thryomanes bewickii nesophilus b Common on Santa Cruz/Santa Rosa — Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata sordida a Common Common Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus clementae Common on Santa Catalina Extirpated Rufous-crowned Sparrow Aimophila ruficeps obscura Uncommon on Santa Rosa/SantaCruz/Anacapa — Sage Sparrow Amphispiza belli clementae b — Federally Threatened c Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia clementaeb Common on Santa Rosa Extirpated Melospiza melodia graminea Extirpated on Santa Barbara — Melospiza melodia micronyx b Common on San Miguel — House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus clementis b Common Common a Breeds also on nearby mainland of southern California. b Validity questionable (Phillips 1986, Patten 2001, Patten and Unitt 2002, Kaler and Unitt unpubl. data). Some other subspecies need critical restudy and quantification of their differences as well. c Endemic to San Clemente Island. THE BIRDS OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY San Clemente Island was formed as the result of volcanic uplifting ap- proximately 12–16 million years ago (Olmstead 1958, Ward and Valensise 1996, Vedder and Howell 1980). Tectonic plate shifting and volcanic ac- tion formed the Channel Islands during the early Tertiary Period (Vedder and Howell 1980). It is thought that the northern islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel) were once connected to the mainland, albeit briefly in the context of geologic time. The remaining four islands (Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, Santa Catalina, and San Clemente) have never been connected to another land mass, even when glaciations lowered sea levels (Vedder and Howell 1980). San Clemente Island is composed predominantly of Miocene andesite and dacite, with some localized marine sedimentary deposits carried up with the island’s emergence (Merifield et al. 1971). The island continues to rise at a rate of 20–40 cm per thousand years (Ridlon 1969). Currently, SCI is 44 km long and 2.4–6.4 km wide, encompassing ap- proximately 14,764 ha (Figure 2). Its elevation ranges from sea level to 599 m. Tectonic activity and climatic changes have been fundamental to the island’s evolution (Yatsko 2000). The island consists of a central plateau incised by canyons along the western and eastern slopes (Yatsko 2000; Figure 3). The steep eastern escarpment is the up-thrust edge of the San Clemente Fault, which descends from the plateau to the Pacific Ocean (Figure 4). The west side consists of a series of more gentle marine terraces formed as a result of periodic uplifting and erosion from wave action (Vedder and Howell 1980). These marine terraces are some of the best examples of these features found along the southern California coast (USDoN 2001). SCI also has localized sand dunes and sandy beaches, produced by receding sea levels (Muhs 1980; Figure 5). The varied geologic features result in many habitat types, increasing the diversity of birds found there. San Clemente is the driest of all the Channel Islands, receiving an average of 15.7 cm of rain per year (Olmstead 1958). Rainfall fluctuates dramtically with cycles of drought and El Niño. Rain falls typically from December to April. Temperatures range from 7° to 29° C, with frequent thick fog and relatively high humidity (67–85%), which may moderate the effects of low rainfall. Typical wind speeds average 6–18 km/hr. Fresh-water sources are limited with most water restricted to natural catchment basins in the bottoms of the larger canyons. THE FLORA OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND Contributed by Jonathan J. Dunn The semiarid climate of SCI supports a diverse array of plant communities from seasonally lush oak woodlands (Quercus tomentella and Q. chrys- olepis) to stark stands of cholla cactus (Opuntia prolifera) and California boxthorn (Lycium californicum) (Figure 6). Aside from the island’s endemic taxa, the flora of SCI is an ensemble of native and exotic plants largely similar to that found on the California mainland. There are 435 native and exotic plant species currently known from SCI. Of this total, 295 taxa are con- 161 THE BIRDS OF SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND Figure 2. Detail of San Clemente Island, showing major features and sites mentioned in the text. 1, Bird Rock; 2, Whale Point; 3, West Cove Point; 4, West Cove Beach; 5, airfield;6, Northwest Harbor; 7, Chad’s Bluff; 8, Wilson Cove Canyon; 9, Wilson Cove; 10, Oly Locker; 11, old nursery; 12, eucalyptus tree; 13, West Shore;
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