Light-Footed Ridgway's (Clapper) Rail in California

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Light-Footed Ridgway's (Clapper) Rail in California Light-footed Ridgway’s (Clapper) Rail in California 2018 Season By Richard Zembal, Susan M. Hoffman, John Konecny, and Beth Sabiston Final Report to US Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Light-footed Ridgway’s (Clapper) Rail in California 2018 Season Richard Zembal, Susan M. Hoffman, John Konecny, and Beth Sabiston Clapper Rail Recovery Fund Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy 24821 Buckboard Lane Laguna Hills, CA 92653 December 21, 2018 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 2 METHODS ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Population Monitoring .........................................................................................................4 Nest Monitoring ...................................................................................................................5 Breeding in Zoological Facilities .........................................................................................6 Banding and Tracking ..........................................................................................................8 STUDY AREAS ............................................................................................................................. 8 RESULTS and DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................ 9 Population Monitoring .........................................................................................................9 Four Principal Study Areas; Largest Subpopulations and/or Habitat Acreage ............................. 15 Upper Newport Bay – 76 pairs ...........................................................................................15 Tijuana Marsh – 62 pairs ...................................................................................................15 Seal Beach NWR – 43 pairs ...............................................................................................16 Point Mugu – 7 pairs ..........................................................................................................19 Four Subpopulations with 15 – 54 Pairs ....................................................................................... 19 San Elijo Lagoon – 54 pairs ...............................................................................................19 San Dieguito River Valley – 31 pairs ................................................................................20 Batiquitos Lagoon – 16 pairs .............................................................................................20 San Diego River – 15 pairs ................................................................................................21 Smaller Wetlands/Subpopulations, North to South ...................................................................... 22 Carpinteria Marsh - 0 .........................................................................................................22 Ballona Wetlands - male ....................................................................................................22 Bolsa Chica – 6 pairs .........................................................................................................22 Huntington Beach Wetlands – 4 pairs................................................................................23 San Joaquin Reserve - 0 .....................................................................................................23 Santa Margarita River – ? ..................................................................................................23 San Luis Rey River - 0 .......................................................................................................24 Buena Vista Lagoon – 9 pairs ............................................................................................24 Agua Hedionda Lagoon – 4 pairs .......................................................................................24 Los Penasquitos Marsh – 5 pairs........................................................................................25 Kendall-Frost Reserve – 9 pairs .........................................................................................25 Sweetwater Marsh- 8 pairs; E Street – 2 pairs ...................................................................26 J Street Marsh - 0 ...............................................................................................................26 Otay River – 2 pairs ...........................................................................................................27 South Bay Marine Reserve – 3 pairs ..................................................................................27 Sex Ratio ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Additional Rail Sightings .............................................................................................................. 27 2018 Status .................................................................................................................................... 28 Nest Monitoring ............................................................................................................................ 28 Upper Newport Bay ...........................................................................................................28 Seal Beach NWR ...............................................................................................................29 UC Kendall-Frost Reserve .................................................................................................30 Sweetwater Marsh NWR ...................................................................................................31 NBVC Point Mugu ............................................................................................................32 Tijuana Slough NWR .........................................................................................................33 Breeding in Zoological Facilities .................................................................................................. 33 Banding and Tracking ................................................................................................................... 39 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 41 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................. 41 List of Tables Table 1: Census of the Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail in California, 1980-2018. ...................... 10 Table 2: High Tide and Call Counts of Ridgway’s Rails on the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, 1975 - 2018. ...................................................................... 18 Table 3: Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail Breeding Activities on Rafts in UC Kendall-Frost Reserve, 2018. ............................................................................... 30 Table 4: Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail Breeding Activities on Rafts in Sweetwater Marsh NWR, 2018. ................................................................................. 32 Table 5: Number of Zoologically Bred LFR Rails Released into Target Marshes 2001 – 2018. ...................................................................................... 33 Table 6: LCDC 2018 LFRR Production………………………………………………………35 Table 7: Studbook Identification of LCDC LFRR Production………………………………..36 List of Figures Figure 1: Light footed Ridgway’s Rails in California, 1980-2018. ............................................ 14 Figure 2: Barren Mud Hummocks and Flats, Covered in Dense Cordgrass That Held Rail Nests Until 2016, Shellmaker Island, Upper Newport Bay. ....................... 16 Figure 3: Rails 16345, 346, and 347 Locations in South San Diego Bay in October 2017. .......................................................................................................... 40 Light-footed Ridgway’s (Clapper) Rail in California 2018 Season1 by Richard Zembal, Susan M. Hoffman, John Konecny, and Beth Sabiston Clapper Rail Recovery Fund Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy 24821 Buckboard Lane Laguna Hills, CA 92653 ABSTRACT The thirty-ninth annual census of the Light-footed Ridgway’s (formerly Clapper) Rail, Rallus obsoletus levipes, in California was conducted from 20 February to 21 July 2018. Thirty coastal wetlands were surveyed by assessing call counts from Carpinteria Marsh in Santa Barbara County, south to Tijuana Marsh National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on the Mexican border. For the second time since 2008 the California population of the Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail has dropped more than 150 breeding pairs between two seasons, down from the all-time high of 656 pairs in 2016, and 514 pairs in 2017, to 356 breeding pairs in 18 marshes in 2018. This is the lowest count tallied since 2009 and follows a run of six consecutive years of population totals over 500 pairs. The decline was mostly due to reductions in Upper Newport Bay and Batiquitos Lagoon but 9 additional subpopulations were smaller as well. The Newport subpopulation
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