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

9.0 Birds
9.5-1). Habitat composition differed somewhat between these zones with sandy beach at Pier
300 in Zone 6 supporting seasonally high numbers of nesting Elegant Terns. Zones 12 and 13
in the outer harbor both had five habitats and supported a similar number of species, but Zone
12 had nearly five times as many individuals. Bird abundance was greater on riprap habitat
along the outer breakwater in Zone 12 than along the riprap at the edge of Pier J in Zone 13.
Zone 11, with the fewest number of habitats (3 — Table 9.5-3), supported a similar number of
species as Zones 14, 29, and 32 with four to six habitats each, but the number of individuals
was greater in the open-water habitats of Zones 11 and 14 than the inner harbor basin and
channel habitats of Zones 29 and 32 in Los Angeles Harbor. The substantially higher total
number of individuals in Zone 14 than in Zone 11 was primarily due to seasonally large numbers
of Brandt’s cormorants in flight over Zone 14 to or from nesting and roosting sites in Zone 23.
Zones 2 and 30 both had 8 habitats, but the much larger Zone 2 in outer Los Angeles Harbor
supported twice as many species and five times as many individual birds as the smaller Zone
30 in inner Los Angeles Harbor (Table 9.5-1).
9.5.2 Distribution and Abundance in Habitat Types
Table 9.5-4 summarizes the percent composition of bird guilds by habitat type. The most used
habitat type during the current surveys was open water, accounting for 30.1% of all bird
observations. Riprap was the second most used habitat, supporting 24.1% of total birds, and
was closely followed by dock/pilings, which accounted for 22.3% of total birds. As discussed
above, the riprap habitat most used by birds was along the outer breakwaters. Less than 10%
of total birds were counted within all other habitats, the majority being found in the sandy beach
(3.3%) and barge (4.1%) habitats.
The various habitat types within the Ports were used differently by each guild (Figure 9.5-3).
Over 60% of waterfowl observations were recorded in open water (Table 9.5-4). Aerial Fish
Foragers were primarily observed along riprap (60.9%) and flying/foraging (20.4%) (Table 9.5-4,
Figure 9.5-3).
Large and Small Shorebirds were more frequently observed on riprap than in other habitats.
Riprap accounted, respectively, for 70.8% and 76.2% of total Large Shorebird and Small
Shorebird observations (Table 9.5-4, Figure 9.5-3). Shorebirds also were observed on sandy
beach or in flight (Table 9.5-4).
Wading/Marsh Birds were most commonly observed on riprap (44.2%) and dock/pilings (33.7%)
(Figure 9.5-3). Although not abundant, they were more numerous than other guilds on spill
booms (2.8%) and buoys (4.3%).
Dock/pilings supported more Gulls (43.4%) and more Upland Birds (32.9%) than other habitats,
although Upland Birds were also numerous in aerial habitats (30.4%) and on barges (24.8%)
(Table 9.5-4 and Figure 9.5-2).
Raptors were most commonly observed on riprap (37% these were primarily Osprey, totaling 52
observations) or flying (aerial- 31.5%) (Table 9.5-4). More raptors (9.3%) were observed on
bridges than other guilds.
9.5.3 Activity
A total of 83,295 individuals, accounting for 66.4% of total observations, were observed resting
during the current surveys. Foraging, flying, nesting, and courting accounted for 18.8%, 12%,
2.8%, and 0.1%, of total observations, respectively (Table 9.5-5). Species from only three of the
eight guilds (Waterfowl, Aerial Fish Foragers, and Upland Birds) were observed courting. Birds
from all guilds except Small Shorebirds were observed nesting; most of these (Caspian Tern,
Elegant Tern, Black Oystercatcher, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron) are
9–10 2008 Biological Surveys of Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors
April 2010