The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has substantially expanded the critical habitat for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, adding 490 stream miles and 88,149 acres of land to the designation. The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher is a small songbird that nests in vegetation along rivers and streams or other wetlands; is known to occur only in [...]

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Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, and SharkStewards filed a petition this week to list the Great White Shark as threatened orendangered. From the petition: White sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, of the northeastern Pacific Ocean are in peril. New studies demonstrate that these sharks form a genetically distinct population. Such a population, covering a significant portion of the world’s oceans, urgently [...]

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We’re hearing reports that the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo is making a return to the San Joaquin Valley. This is remarkable news, given that the species — named on the both the state and federal endangered species lists — has been absent from the Valley due to the loss of its river habitat. Now, with [...]

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Great news today about a successful breeding pair of Western Snowy Plovers at Pescadero State Beach, where the species hasn’t successfully bred in more than 30 years. If this bird is going to come off the endangered list, we’re going to need to see it recover breeding sites like this one. Note that it was [...]

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More and more we’re seeing California Condors pushing into their historical range, including the Tehachapi Mountains. While it’s great to see the population expanding its range, this expansion comes with some worries. First, there’s the increased interaction with humans, which never seems to be a good thing for the endangered species. But then there’s the [...]

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A new study shows that lead in the environment still poses a serious threat to the survival of the endangered California Condor. The report also indicates that most of the lead found in the giant birds is coming from ammunition left behind by hunters in the wild. Share on Facebook

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The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Monday greatly expanded the designated critical habitat area for the Western Snowy Plover, which is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The assignment of 38 square miles along the West Coast more than doubles the protected area for this shorebird. (photo by Mike Baird) Share on Facebook

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According to a press release from CBD, a California superior court judge has ratified a settlement between the John Muir Project, Center for Biological Diversity and the California Fish and Game Commission that restores California Endangered Species Act protections to Black-backed Woodpeckers. The rare woodpecker lives in coniferous forests in the northwest, it particularly enjoys [...]

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According to the Los Angeles Times, wind energy developers in the Tehachapi Mountains are looking to science to avoid what would be a catastrophic collision between an endangered California Condor and a wind turbine. The issue is more critical than ever as the California Condor continues to expand further into its historical range, which includes [...]

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Down to as few as 23 birds in the early 1980s, the endangered California Condor has reached a new milestone of 400 birds in existence. A little more than half of them are flying free over California, Oregon and Arizona — while the others are in captive protection. While the population is growing, it continues [...]

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For the last several weeks, we’ve been talking in this space about spring migration, the great spectacle of birds moving over great distances. But during this whole period, we’ve been ever mindful of the great California birds that aren’t going anywhere this spring. Sure, they may shift locally from one place to another to set [...]

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Just a couple of weeks ago, we noted the annual arrive to California shorelines of the California Least Tern. The California Least Tern is an endangered species that is coming to our shores right now to breed on our beaches. On those beaches, they will face a number of challenges, including human disturbance and loss [...]

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We noted back in early March that the Bell’s Vireo was starting to appear in Southern California. Well, now we can say that it has arrived in California in large numbers. This bird spends its winters in Mexico and comes northward to the southern United States and midwest. California typically only sees them in the [...]

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What, you thought we would never use that pun? About a week ago, we noted the first sighting of a California Least Tern in San Diego. Well, there have been several sightings since, indicating that the bird is making its annual push into the Golden State. Today, we were talking with one of our experts [...]

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