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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
[Text by Chuck Almdale, photos & 5/11/24 trip list by Chris Tosdevin]
While Chris Tosdevin and I agreed to co-lead this announced-at-the-last-minute trip, I think it was Ruth Tosdevin who pointed the way and kept us moving along. Whomever was in charge (if anyone) it was a beautiful day. It warmed from a cool upper 50s to a lovely 70° or so, the air was filled with bird song, especially the burble-babbling of House Wrens, and the landscape was dotted with flowers and butterflies. And no pesky biting insects. We’ll introduce you to a few of the more interesting and beautiful birds, then beleaguer you with a quiz. Some of the best photos will be in the quiz, so don’t ho-hum yourself into skipping it.
Acorn Woodpeckers were not the most abundant bird in the park but perhaps the most commonly seen as they fly around a lot, sit on bare branches, make loud weird calls, are relatively big and chunky and look like clowns. I spotted five in one tree next to the parking lot as I got out of my car. They were mobbing a perched youngish (not particularly red on the chest) Red-shouldered Hawk in a bare tree, who appeared imperturbable but left within a few minutes.
We first wandered up the former entrance road (Waycross) towards Las Virgenes Rd., crossing Stokes Creek which runs down from King Gillette SP on the other side of Las Virgenes, cut past the District HQ building whose roof was thoroughly plasticized against winter rains, back through the jam-packed campground ($45/night!) dodging frisbees and footballs on our way to the Braille Trail, then along Crags Rd. past the former Malibu Creek crossing, then about 1/2-way along the High Road to the Visitor Center, at which point we turned around. It took us about 3.5 hours to cover this short distance. Lots to look for, look at, listen to, poke at, and sniff. Then repeat.
There was an abundance of yellow(ish) birds, the first of which was a Lesser Goldfinch, mournfully singing from a high twig. We also had multiple Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Western Tanagers and a vaguely-yellow-underneath Ash-throated Flycatcher.
About every 20 minutes we’d see this Great-blue Heron go sailing by overhead, on its way to elsewhere. We finally caught up to it at Malibu Creek, upstream a bit from where the crossing roadway used to be (everyone knows where that is, right?). This where the creek becomes its widest and slowest, where Killdeer often nest on the sand & gravel banks. No Killdeer today, though.
Some of the birds were blindingly colorfully bright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Common Yellowthroat look so uncommonly yellow as did one individual. The forehead/crown was so intensely gray that it looked blue.
Some of the many male Yellow Warblers had bright thick red breast streaks. This one below was a bit less fervently marked. Of the many singing birds, this was probably the second-most commonly heard species, and the most common, the House Wrens, were everywhere, loudly singing. It seemed sometimes there were ten at a time burbling at the top of their lungs. For every one we actually saw, we could easily have heard 5-10 more.
Chris and Ruth had a secret, which they kept to themselves until Chris’ telescope was properly focused. In a distant tree within a long line of trees there was a nest full of young Red-tailed Hawks. We counted four, although I can’t see more than two in the photo below. Sometimes they crouched down. Their heads were very white. Their feathers are growing out, but they were not yet anywhere near flying.
We found four Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, proving Acorn Woodpecker wasn’t the only woodpecker around. The female below was carrying food to her nest, which was on the underside of a mostly-horizontal limb, so she was literally hanging by her toes, although you can’t really tell that from the photo below. Chris had to lean way back and point the camera straight up to take this. The nest is just above her feet, so the entrance is more of a manhole (birdhole?) than a sidehole.
It’s pretty hard to see any blue on this female Western Bluebird, but the reddish breast and that innocent facial expression gives her away.
Male Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in breeding (alternate) plumage have a dark line over the eyes which meets just over the bill, giving them a slightly meaner expression.
We came upon this female Brown-headed Cowbird, sitting sedately on a bare branch. For an Icterid (blackbird-oriole family) they have a very thick, almost finch-like bill, and this one’s plumage seemed a bit pale, although it could just have been an artifact of sunlight. She probably had her eye on someone nearby nest, waiting for the owners to leave so she could dump an egg or two into it.
Unfortunately for her, she was seen and recognized by some of the smaller birds in the vicinity. A family of Bushtits moved in to drive her away, joined by Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and at least one Yellow Warbler and perhaps a few other species. This suggests that our local birds, unfamiliar with Cowbirds only a century ago, have now picked up on and passed on to others just what she’s really up to.
We’ll end with the traditional show-ending “flicker in the fog” photo. This is a true Red-shafted Flicker, just to show you that even with all the hybrid Red-shafted x Yellow-shafted Flickers and flat-out Yellow-shafted Flickers flying around SoCal these days, there are still some Red-shafted around. Note the red moustachial stripe, gray face, lack of red nape and a very faint ting of red in the side of the tail.
Last but not least we heard a Yellow-breasted Chat chortling down in the creek bed as we walked along Crags Rd. Couldn’t find it from the road, though, and the dirt cliff down to the water and brush looked too lethally slippery-steep for my sneakers.
Bird Quiz!
Fun for the whole family, for kids from three to one-hundred-and-three! All birds were photo’d on this field trip, no ringers snuck in from Colombia or Kavortistan or someone’s fevered imagination. We’ll begin with a few easy underhand pitches.
Quiz Answers: All photos by Chris Tosdevin, 11 May 2024, Malibu Creek State Park
#1. Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon-type
#2. Acorn Woodpecker, male
#3. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, male
#4. Song Sparrow
#5. Lesser Goldfinch, male
#6. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, female, not that you could tell sex from this photo.
#7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, male; note dark eyebrows.
#8. Ash-throated Flycatcher, who sings prrrrrt!
#9. Common Yellowthroat, male, unusual amount of white on head.
#10. Yellow Warbler, probably male but red streaks hidden.
#11. Western Tanager, young male, very faint red on crown.
#12. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, female, a bit more visible.
#13. American Kestrel
#14. Red-shouldered Hawk, previously mobbed by Acorn Woodpeckers.
#15. Western Bluebird, female.
#16. White-breasted Nuthatch, inconveniently viewed.
#17. Cooper’s Hawk, deep in foliage.
#18. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on nest, female
#19. Brown-headed Cowbird, female, about to be mobbed.
#20. Brown-headed Cowbird, male, looking twisted.
#21. Western Bluebird, female, awkwardly perched.
In the interest of full disclosure and complete transparency, I didn’t know what #21 was and wasn’t too sure about #20 either.
The list below is the only record we have for our Malibu Creek SP bird walks. It’s odd to note that each trip had 47 species, but the total for all three species was 70 species, or 67% of the total. From the results of many other trips elsewhere I’ve learned that on any given trip to any particular location, a reasonably diligent – but not obsessively – search will turn up about 2/3rds of the birds likely to be present at that time of year.
| Malibu Creek S.P. Field Trips | 5/11/24 | 11/12/11 | 11/13/10 |
| Mallard | 5 | 20 | 15 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 1 | ||
| Bufflehead | 2 | ||
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | ||
| Band-tailed Pigeon | 6 | 80 | 12 |
| Mourning Dove | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| White-throated Swift | 20 | ||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 2 | 1 | |
| American Coot | 20 | 15 | |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 | ||
| Great Blue Heron | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 10 | ||
| White-tailed Kite | 2 | 2 | |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | 1 | |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | ||
| Red-naped Sapsucker | 1 | ||
| Red-breasted Sapsucker | 2 | 1 | |
| Acorn Woodpecker | 15 | 8 | 15 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 2 | |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Nanday Parakeet | 8 | H | |
| Western Flycatcher | 4 | ||
| Black Phoebe | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Say’s Phoebe | 3 | 2 | |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | 5 | ||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | 2 | ||
| Hutton’s Vireo | 2 | 1 | |
| Loggerhead Shrike | 2 | 1 | |
| California Scrub-Jay | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| American Crow | 10 | 30 | 30 |
| Common Raven | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| Oak Titmouse | 10 | 20 | 12 |
| Violet-green Swallow | 1 | ||
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 5 | ||
| Cliff Swallow | 20 | ||
| Bushtit | 10 | 15 | 15 |
| Wrentit | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 4 | 3 | |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 3 | ||
| Canyon Wren | 1 | ||
| House Wren | 12 | 1 | 3 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 2 | 2 | |
| Western Bluebird | 2 | 20 | 1 |
| American Robin | 1 | ||
| Phainopepla | 1 | 2 | |
| House Finch | 10 | 30 | 4 |
| Purple Finch | 6 | 2 | |
| Pine Siskin | 5 | ||
| Lesser Goldfinch | 10 | 1 | |
| Lark Sparrow | 20 | ||
| Dark-eyed Junco | 8 | 30 | 12 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 40 | 20 | |
| Song Sparrow | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| California Towhee | 9 | 12 | 4 |
| Spotted Towhee | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | ||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | ||
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 3 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 5 | ||
| Common Yellowthroat | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Yellow Warbler | 12 | ||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 40 | 40 | |
| Western Tanager | 2 | ||
| Lazuli Bunting | 1 | ||
| Total Species: 70 | 47 | 47 | 47 |
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Just to place some of our locally introduced parrots into a wider frame of space and time, we’ll begin with the major split in the evolution of birds that occurred a mere 55 million years ago. The evolutionary line which led to the enormous Songbird order of Passeriformes (6595 species in 143 families) split from the line which led to the Parrot order of Psittaciformes, making these two orders (of the 41 avian orders) each other’s closest relatives. Their next closest relatives are the Falconiformes (Falcons, 65 species in one family which does not include Hawks, Eagles and Osprey) and the little-known Cariamiformes (Seriemas, two long-legged species in one family) of southern South America. Over the period 32-22 million years ago the Psittacids (or Psittacines) slowly split into four families: Strigopidae (New Zealand Parrots, 4 species), Cacatuidae (Cockatoos, 22 species), Psittaculidae (Old World Parrots, 202 species), and Psittacidae (New World and African Parrots, 177 species).
Some useful avian diversification cladograms:
Origin and Diversification of birds: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0960982215009458-gr6_lrg.jpg
What are the Parrots and Where Did They Come From?: https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/9930.ch01.pdf
Earth History and the Passerine Radiation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6475423/figure/fig01/
Amazona Parrots
In the Psittacidae line, new genera and species continued to appear, eventually bringing us to the 37 genera and 177 species we know of today. The largest Psittacid genus is Amazona with 32 species. This genus is widespread throughout the new world, ranging from the Rio Grand Valley of Texas, throughout Central America, the Caribbean Islands and South America to Peru, southeast Bolivia and northern Argentina. It’s very difficult to find an area in this region where Amazona parrots don’t occur.
As this genus can be found from roughly 30°N to 30°S of the equator, which includes all of the New World tropical rainforest, for rapid identification purposes it’s very handy to know that they share a distinctive manner of flight, uncommon outside their genus: they fly with fast shallow wing beats, wings rising and falling about 45° or less from the horizontal. Any parrot flying like that in SoCal (and probably throughout their range) will be an Amazona. They also have blunt tails. Any Psittacid in SoCal with a long pointed tail is one of the species of parakeet (or rarely a much-larger Macaw). Most, if not all, Psittacid species are very social and call constantly to each other while they fly. They are far less vocal when resting or feeding in trees.
The photo below shows the sort of thing Amazona parrots (and perhaps parrots in general) like to eat in the SoCal area. The parrot photos at the bottom of this article were taken while the birds fed in this particular Cupianopsis (Carrotwood) tree.
In the northernmost portion of their natural range – central to Northern Mexico – there are four Amazona species. Lilac-crowned Parrot Amazona finschi ranges from Oaxaca and along the western coast to the mountains of southeastern Sonora to 200 miles south of the Arizona border. White-fronted Parrot Amazona albafrons overlaps the Lilac-crowned, ranging from southern Sonora 160 miles south of Arizona down to central Costa Rica. In eastern Mexico the Red-crowned Parrot Amazona viridigenalis ranges from coastal Veracruz north to Monterrey, only 60 miles south of the Texas border. It’s close relative the Red-lored Parrot Amazona autumnalis overlaps this range, and is found from the Rio Grand Valley of Texas south to northern Brazil and Ecuador.
From Birds of the World:
Molecular phylogenetic studies using DNA sequence data as well as genomic data from ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) have shown that the Lilac-crowned Parrot Amazona finschi and the Red-crowned Parrot Amazona viridigenalis form a sister relationship with strong support. Together, these two species appear to be sister to Red-lored Parrot Amazona autumnalis with this clade in turn sister to a small group of Amazona parrots from South America and the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. White-fronted Parrot Amazona albafrons is member of a clade found from Yucatan eastward through the Greater Antilles to Puerto Rico.
Giving an indication of just how closely these Amazona species are related, in SoCal the Red-crowned Amazon A. viridigenalis has hybridized with Lilac-crowned A. finschi, Yellow-headed A. oratrix, and Red-lored A. autumnalis. If these hybrids are themselves capable of reproducing and we were strictly following the biological definition of species, these species would all be considered subspecies of one wider-ranging as-yet-unnamed-and-undescribed species.
Parrots in SoCal
Here in Southern California the organization FLAPP (Free-flying Los Angeles Parrot Project) has recorded 37 species of Psittacids living wild in SoCal. Their information comes through iNaturalist and always includes a photo. According to the Zoom presentation by Brenda Ramirez, the most abundantly reported Psittacid is the Red-crowned Parrot (2864 observations) followed distantly by Mitered Parrot Psittacara mitratus (963 observations), Nanday Parakeet Aratinga nenday (766 observations), Lilac-crowned Parrot (583), all the way down to eight species – including several Macaws – each seen one time only.
According to the original Parrot Project website (see their chart), of the thirteen most common species of parrot in SoCal, six are in the Amazona genus: Red-crowned A. viridigenalis, Lilac-crowned A. finschi, Red-lored A. autumnalis, Blue(now Turquoise)-fronted A. aestiva, Yellow-headed A. oratrix and White-fronted Amazona albafrons. As they are all in the same genus they look much the same both while perched or in flight.
Link to Zoom Recording: Red and Lilac-crowned Parrots in SoCal, with Brenda Ramirez
Because the closely-related and hybridizing Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots are the first and fourth most commonly sighted parrots in SoCal, FLAPP prepared some identification cards specifically for them, and kindly gave me copies to include in this posting.
Additional information on the thirteen-most commonly seen Psittacids is available from the California Parrot Project: http://www.californiaparrotproject.org/id_guide.html
Following are some photos on which to hone your identification skills.
All photos below are by Ray Juncosa, June, 2019, Santa Monica Area.
Identification key at bottom.
Photo Key:
Lilac-crowned Parrot: 1, 3, 5, 7
Red-crowned Parrot: 2
Both, Red-crowned above, Lilac-crowned below: 4, 6
Malibu Creek State Park
1925 Las Virgenes Rd, Calabasas
Saturday, 11 May 2024 at 8am
Golden Current closeup (J.Kenney 4/15/12)
Despite the fact that this is the only announcement for this trip tomorrow, the trip is real.
This is always a lovely walk past grassy fields and groves of Live Oak. We should see resident species such as Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk, Band-tailed Pigeon, Acorn Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse and Western Bluebird.
Western Bluebird male (L.Johnson 4/10)
We’ll look for flycatchers, swallows, warblers, buntings and other spring migrants as well as lingering winter visitors such as Lark, Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows. In past years we have had good looks at some uncommon species such as Merlin and Phainopepla and there is a chance of seeing White-tailed Kite. Deer, Coyote and Bobcat are resident though seeing a Bobcat would be a rare treat.
Link to prior trips: Nov 2012, Nov 2011, Nov. 2010
Family guide: 2-3 miles walking on pavement and dirt trails. Morning temperatures start cool.
[Directions] From the Ventura Fwy (101): exit at Las Virgenes Rd. Go south on Las Virgenes Rd. for about 3 miles. Continue past the traffic light at the intersection with Mulholland Hwy. The Park entrance is on the right just south of the traffic light.
Coast Route: From PCH, take Malibu Canyon Road inland. The main entrance of the park is on the left about 1.5 miles past the traffic light at Piuma Rd. (Don’t turn at the entrance to Tapia Park which is just after Piuma Rd.)
Coyote crossing (J. Waterman 4/15/12)
If you don’t have a CA State Park pass, the day-use fee is $12 per vehicle, $11 for seniors, or $3/hour. Go straight after you pass the kiosk. We’ll meet in the second (lower) parking lot. Look for the sign that says “Main Trailhead Parking”. Look for us near the building (restrooms). Either way, allow 45 minutes travel time from Santa Monica.
Meet at 8:00 a.m. in the Main Trailhead parking lot.
For additional information, e-mail Chuck: <misclists [at] verizon.net>
Local bird problems: Loon and Brown Pelicans
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Pacific Loon 368
On Friday 26 April 2024 around 9am, local birder Ursula “H” of Venice reported on LACoBirds ListServe (which sends out emails to all its members) that she’d found a loon at Ballona Creek with a hook in its throat. With bird now in car, she wanted to know where to take it.
SMBAS maintains a bird and marine mammal rescue page on our blogsite. Many birders responded to Ursula with the following in one form or another:
1. International Bird Rescue (IBR) in San Pedro 310-514-2573, 3601 South Gaffey St., San Pedro, Ca. 90731. Website: http://www.bird-rescue.org/
2. California Wildlife Center, 310-458-9453. 26026 Piuma Rd, about one mile east of Malibu Canyon Road. Website: http://www.cawildlife.org/. The number 818-591-9453 is outdated but may still work.
3. Licensed wildlife rehabilitation facilities: There are dozens in California including several around Los Angeles:
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Rehab/Facilities
4. Los Angeles Audubon also has an On-line list with 50 rescue sites for all types of animals: https://www.laaudubon.org/wildlife-rehabilitation
Later that day (26 Apr) the intrepid Ursula wrote in with an update on the Loon:
I’m now back home and wanted to extend a warm thank you to all of you who jumped in and helped out with very useful info this morning. Here’s the story so far:
I spotted the loon just east of the Ballona Creek bike/ped bridge in Marina del Rey a little after 9 this morning, not far from a small group of surf scoters. Unlike the scoters, the loon seemed to be moving oddly, just paddling in place, sort of like a buoy. So I jogged across the bridge and climbed down to take a closer look, and saw that there was a fishing line running from the loon to the shore.
A very friendly and helpful passerby located a piece of broken glass that we could use to cut the line (the ubiquitous trash came in handy, for a change). But then I discovered to my dismay that the rest of the line ran into the loon’s bill. I picked it up, wrapped it in my vest and looked in its bill, but the line ran down its throat. So I rushed it to my car, put it in a box, and sent the emergency email, then left a voicemail with IBR. Thanks so much for the quick reference to IBR from people on this list – that was a lifesaver!!
I started heading east on Culver, saw several guys doing work at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh, and pulled over to see if they might have advice. They checked the bird, confirmed that the hook was deep down its gull, and a guy with the nametag Patrick said IBR would take it in (anyone know who that Patrick might be – I want to thank him?). Real luck that I’m not teaching today, so I drove down to San Pedro, and they took the loon in. Vet seemed hopeful that the hook could be removed with surgery, and also noted that one of the loon’s eyes looked a bit funny, which I hadn’t noticed. It’s now Pacific Loon 368 down there. I’ll call on Monday to see how he/she is doing.
The loon did seem pretty strong – it struggled to get out of my vest and arms in Playa del Rey and to get out of the box down in San Pedro, which I thought was a good sign: I hope that it wasn’t caught on that line the whole night.
I’m sending a generous donation to IBR this weekend – so glad they were there in this situation! And I can’t thank everyone on this list enough for the referral: I was about to take the loon to the Access Animal Hospital on Jefferson, where I take my pet birds, but was doubtful that they’d accept a wild bird. So your lightning-fast responses to my emergency email came in the nick of time!
I’ve posted a picture of the loon with this morning’s ebird list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S170404169Thank you, everyone, and let’s hope this beautiful bird survives! I’ll send an update next week.
–Ursula–
This news elicited a response from Neysa at Friends of Ballona Wetlands:
Hi Ursula,
So glad to hear you were able to help the loon! Patrick is our Habitat Restoration Manager at Friends of Ballona Wetlands, we were out doing trail rehabilitation work at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh today. I will let him know that the loon arrived at IBR!We also have a drop down menu “Found an Injured Animal?” with a list of helpful animal rescue/injury numbers on our Contact Page: https://www.ballonafriends.org/contact-us
Thank you for going above and beyond for that bird!
Best wishes,
Neysa
Ursula posted an update on Loon 368 on 8 May:
Hello Birders:
I received sad news regarding Pacific Loon 368 today, the bird that I took to IBR in San Pedro on April 26. The fish hook was lodged so deeply in its throat that they were not able to extract it with surgery, and they euthanized the bird. Needless to say, I’m terribly sad – you get attached to these critters you find in distress, and this seemed a particularly unnecessary death, just from someone’s negligence in leaving fishing gear around.I was also told that the IBR is currently receiving a very large number of 2-3 year old pelicans on the brink of starvation. It wasn’t entirely clear to me what the cause is – not sure that they know, either. Not bird flu, they told me. Overfishing? If anyone has any information, I’d be curious to know.
Anyway, I’ll keep donating to them and – time allowing – will volunteer with IBR. Maybe we can an at least save some of these pelicans.
In sadness,
Ursula
Ursula is to be commended for unstinting concern and determination, as are also Habitat Restoration Manager Patrick and his workmates at Friends of Ballona Wetlands. Unfortunately, the bird was too damaged to be saved. Ages ago I used to catch fish, and I know how devilishly difficult it can be to extract a hook the fish (in my case) has swallowed.
Starving Brown Pelicans
Which brings us back to the starving Brown Pelicans mentioned by IBR. The following comment was posted yesterday (8 May) by Justyn Stahl of San Diego:
I got the following from California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Laboratory in response to a mortality report I had submitted a few days ago. This is presumably what’s behind the increase in inland records of Brown Pelicans recently.
“Thank you for submitting a mortality report. We have had an uptick in reports of brown pelicans along the central and southern coasts recently. Additionally, a number of wildlife rehabilitation centers have been admitting increased numbers of debilitated pelicans. Most of these pelicans appear to be younger birds that are emaciated, sometimes with secondary injuries. Unfortunately, we sometimes see increased mortality of seabirds due to food resource issues. Younger birds may have more difficulty adjusting to changes. Thankfully, we have not detected disease in these pelicans so far this season. We appreciate you reporting your observations. These reports help us monitor the numbers and locations of animals involved in the event.”
Justin adds:
I would encourage submission to CDFW any sick/weak/dead pelicans you may encounter:
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Monitoring/Mortality-Report
This issue is mentioned in LA Times and the Santa Barbara Independent:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-04/scores-of-starving-brown-pelicans-found-on-socal-beaches
A similar event occurred in 2022:
https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/cdfw-provides-update-on-california-brown-pelican-stranding-event
LAist also has a recent article on the Starving Brown Pelicans:
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/mystery-surrounds-brown-pelican-starvation-socal
Malibu Pier and Used Fishing Line
All the above brought SMBAS Board Member and longtime Western Snowy Plover roosting site monitor for Santa Monica Beach, Lu Plauzoles, to contact our local California State Parks personnel about the “fishhook recycling” containers on Malibu Pier. A few years back Lu and other SMBAS members installed these containers on Malibu Pier to give the fishermen at this very popular pier fishing location a place to put the hooks and fishing line that must be discarded, rather than put it into the trash bins (where they may snag foraging people, birds or animals) or tossing them into the sea. The containers do fill up and need to be cleaned out from time to time. Both Lu and some local merchants have been cleaning them out, but one container seems to have jammed and can’t be opened. Lu thinks that more containers are needed, and that dropping the “recycling” aspect and promoting the “SAVE THE BIRDS” aspect with stickers and labels will be an improvement. I think he’s right.
The recording of this program from 7 May 2024 is now available online
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Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots in SoCal, with Brenda Ramirez
Non-native parrots have become a very present and boisterous element of the urban ecosystems throughout Southern California. Ranging from cities to more natural areas, parrots can be found in a variety of habitats where they coexist with people. Through the Free-Flying Los Angeles Parrot Project (FLAPP) on iNaturalist, we created a dataset focused on two of the more prominent species in Southern California, the Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots. After being introduced through the illegal pet trade, these sister-species have established their populations and even created mixed-species flocks that would not be possible otherwise. Originally from opposite coasts of Mexico, these parrots are model organisms for answering questions on range shifts and hybridization because of the unique displacement that has led to their coexistence. Our research has focused on distinguishing the two species based on morphological features, comparing the environmental conditions between their respective native ranges and their introduced range, and we are now shifting to understanding how their genetic makeup has been affected. Join us to learn how you can help contribute to our research from your own neighborhoods!
Brenda Ramirez has experience working with large citizen science datasets and incorporating them into spatial models to understand species distributions over thousands of years. Having recently graduated with her master’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona, Brenda is now working on Moore Lab’s Free-flying Los Angeles Parrot Project (FLAPP) to evaluate how the non-native Los Angeles parrot populations have changed genetically as they have adapted to their new urban habitats.
Note: Ms. Ramiriz’s very useful facial closeup ID charts on these two species are included in our posting Identifying Red-crowned and Lilac-crowned Parrots in Southern California.
Meanwhile, you can read about FLAPP – Free-Flying Los Angeles Parrot Project – on the iNaturalist website and the Moore Laboratory of Zoology website at Occidental College.
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 