appendix b final 2008 biological surveys of los angeles and long ...

9.0 Birds
9.5.1 Distribution and Abundance in Survey Zones
The eight zones in which birds were most abundant are presented in Table 9.5-2. The Long
Beach West Basin (Zone 23) had the greatest number of birds of all the survey zones: a total of
13,295 birds over all surveys (representing more than 10% of all birds counted) were observed
there (Table 9.5-1 and Figure 9.5-1). Nearly half the observations were Surf Scoters (Table 9.5-
2) foraging on mussels occupying the zone’s numerous dock pilings. Western Gulls, Mew
Gulls, Brandt’s Cormorants, and Western Grebes also were abundant in Zone 23 (Table 9.5-2).
In addition, 215 Brandt’s Cormorant nests were counted on June 20, 2008, among the old docks
on the south side of the basin. On average, more than 600 birds were observed per survey at
Zone 23 (Figure 9.5-2).
Zone 34, in the main shipping channel of Los Angeles Harbor, supported the second-highest
number of individuals (9,533) (Table 9.5-1 and Figure 9.5-1), particularly Western Gulls, Brown
Pelicans, and Heermann’s Gulls (Table 9.5-2). The Municipal Fish Market at Berth 72 in Zone
34 attracts large numbers of opportunistic birds such as gulls and pelicans. Over 8,000 birds
were counted in Zone 27 (Table 9.5-1 and Figure 9.5-1), a large area of inner Los Angeles
Harbor where groups of Western and California Gulls roosted on open water (Table 9.5-2). On
average, more than 400 birds were counted per survey in Zones 27 and 34 (Figure 9.5-2).
More than 8,000 total birds, averaging greater than 400 birds per survey, were counted in Zone
7 adjacent to Pier 400. Nearly half of the individuals were Elegant Terns, which nest on Pier
400 and feed in the adjacent waters. High total numbers of individuals (6,610–7,689) were
observed in Zones 6, 8, and 9 near Pier 400 and Zone 10 near the Long Beach West Basin.
For Zones 6 and 7, this was primarily due to roosting by large numbers of Elegant Terns flying
over these zones and resting on riprap bordering Pier 300, where they nested in 2008 (see
Section 9.4.2 and the results of June and July surveys in Appendix H-2). Zone 8 was primarily
open water and thus supported high numbers of Western Grebes, although high numbers of
Brandt’s Cormorants flying from roosting and nesting areas in Zone 23 to areas outside the
harbor were frequently observed over Zone 8 as well (Table 9.5-2). Zone 9 on the outer
breakwater supported high bird abundances due to large numbers of roosting Brown Pelicans,
while high abundances in Zone 10 were primarily due to the preference for this zone by large
numbers of Western Grebes (Table 9.5-2). On average, more than 300 birds were observed
per survey in each of these zones (Figure 9.5-2).
Zones 28, 29, 30, 32, and 33 of the inner harbor supported the lowest total numbers of birds
(Table 9.5-1 and Figure 9.5-1). These were small areas with few foraging opportunities for
birds. On average, less than 50 birds were counted per survey in these zones (Figure 9.5-2).
The number of species also varied among survey zones (Table 9.5-1). The highest numbers of
species were recorded in Zone 2 (50) and Zone 1 (47) in outer Los Angeles Harbor and Zone
27 (49) in inner Los Angeles Harbor. Zones 1 and 2 supported several species of gulls, terns,
and shorebirds that roosted on its sandy beach habitat. The likely reason for high bird numbers
in Zone 27 is the variety of habitats in that zone. Zones 11 and 14 in outer Long Beach Harbor
and Zone 29 in inner Los Angeles Harbor had the lowest numbers of species (Table 9.5-1),
possibly because these zones mainly included deep, open-water habitat with relatively few other
habitats or were not on major flyover routes between nesting and foraging areas (Table 9.5-3).
During previous surveys, the highest numbers of species and individuals generally occurred in
survey zones with the greatest diversity of habitat types (HEP 1979 and MEC 2002). While this
pattern also was seen in 2007–2008, other factors such as size and composition of habitats as
well as their location appeared to be influential. For example, Zones 6 and 25 had ten habitat
types each (Table 9.5-3) and supported a similar number of species, yet Zone 6 in outer Los
Angeles Harbor supported twice as many birds as Zone 25 in inner Long Beach Harbor (Table
2008 Biological Surveys of Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors 9–9
April 2010