First put on Internet: 18 Dec. 2005. Last Updated on 27 Feb. 2006.
Table of Contents for Birds.htm
Introduction
Yaquina Bay Continental and State Important Bird Area
Threatened and Endangered Bird Species that May Be Affected by Bay Bridge that Regularly Occur at Idaho Flats or Sally's Bend
Waterfowl and, Especially, Black Brant May Potentially Be Affected by Bay Bridge Shipbreaking
The following sections are about waterbirds that might have been affected by the proposed in-water shipbreaking by Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC at Yaquina Bay; their proposal was rejected by the Port of Newport.
A shipbreaking facility at a different Oregon or Washington estuary may affect other waterbirds, but the following sections may still be useful in determining waterbirds that may be affected.
The Important Bird Area (IBA) Program is an integral part of the Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Strategy. IBA programs started in Europe and have been completed in many areas of the world. In the United States, Global, Continental, and National IBA's are designated by the American Bird Conservancy. State IBA's are identified by the National Audubon Society (see Oregon's Important Bird Areas).
The identification of IBA sites is based on scientific criteria and is essential to establish habitat-based priorities in conservation. An IBA site provides important habitat to large concentrations of birds or one or more species of birds of special concern and/or has substantial research value.
Some of the tidelands and submerged lands downstream Toledo Airport were designated as a Continental IBA by the American Bird Conservancy in October 1998. The estuarine area included in this IBA provides habitat for Continentally important numbers of Western Gulls and Nationally significant numbers of Black Brant, Whimbrels, Western Grebes, Sanderlings, Mew Gulls, and Caspian Terns. Another qualifying criterion for IBA status is the presence of a research or educational facility, so the presence of the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) was a factor in the Yaquina Bay IBA designation. Besides having many researchers studying Yaquina Bay and other coastal areas, the HMSC has also been recognized as only one of seven Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers in the nation. Areas not included in the Yaquina Bay Continental IBA are those zoned for heavy development (e.g., bayfront to the shipping terminal [see Development Management unit colored brown in Figure 3], South Beach Marina, and the north shore from Coquille Point to River Bend) and Flesher, Johnson, McCaffery, Parker, and Poole Sloughs). So the Development Management Unit adjacent to the proposed Bay Bridge facility was not included in the IBA nomination, but the nearby Idaho Flats and Sally's Bend Natural Management Units were--see Figure 2 and Figure 3.
The mouth and embayment areas of lower Yaquina Bay have also been designated a State Important Bird Area because it regularly hosts thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds. The Bay Bridge site is not included in the IBA area but it is adjacent to Idaho Flats and Sally's Bend that are included in the Continental and State Important Bird Area designations (see Figure 2 and Figure 3).
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South of the proposed Bay Bridge shipbreaking site at the channel or at Idaho Flats (see Figure 2), there are regularly two bird species that are threatened or endangered (the Endangered Brown Pelican and the Threatened Bald Eagle, 60). In recent years, 1-2 pairs of adult Bald Eagles have been in the Idaho Flats and Sally's Bend areas. In 1993-1994, Kathy Merrifield found Brown Pelicans to be common and numerous at Idaho Flats in September, with a peak count of 46 (58). However, pelican abundance varies between years. They often hunt for food in the channel north of Idaho Flats and roost on the mudflats at Idaho Flats. I do not know if the proposed shipbreaking facility would disturb pelicans.
Surface-feeding waterfowl feed at Idaho Flats in the "Aquatic Bed" of seagrass (eelgrass, Zostera marina) and algae south of the proposed Bay Bridge facility (see Figure 2). Waterfowl are well known as being susceptible to human disturbance (56, 57). Kathy Merrifield has documented use of Idaho Flats, Sally's Bend, and other areas in Yaquina Bay by waterbirds, including waterfowl (58, 59). For example, she counted as many as 1,780 American Wigeon at Idaho Flats during late September 1993-February 1994 (58). Wigeon are a surface-feeding duck that feed at low tide at Idaho Flats along the mudflats near the channel in algae and eelgrass (see Figure 2 for "Aquatic Bed").
Brant are on the Audubon "yellow" watchlist, "this category includes those species that are declining at a slower rate than those in the red category. These typically are species of national conservation concern" (61). The Pacific Flyway Council notes that Brant are of concern in Oregon because they only overwinter at three estuaries (Tillamook, Netarts, and Yaquina Bays)(Appendix A in 62), and numbers wintering in Oregon have dropped by nearly 50% in 1994 and have remained low (p. 9 and Appendix B in 62). Brant are vulnerable to human disturbance, including boating and commercial development (p. 15 in 62, p. 743-745 in 64).
Brant have often been studied at Yaquina Bay, and they regularly overwinter at Idaho Flats (58, 63, 64, 65). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Dave Pitkin studied banded Brant at Yaquina Bay during November 1995-April 1998 (65). He found that 75% of the banded wintering population were from breeding sites near Liverpool Bay in the Northwest Territories, Canada and that the majority of banded ,wintering Brant arrived in November and remained until March or April (p. 5-6 in 65). Pitkin found that many Brant returned to Yaquina Bay in subsequent years (p. 7-8 in 65).
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56. Dahlgren, Robert B. and Carl E. Korschgen. 1992. Human Disturbances of Waterfowl: an Annotated Bibliography. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resource Publication 188
57. Korschgen, Carl E. and Robert B. Dahlgren. 1992. Human Disturbances of Waterfowl: Causes, Effects, and Management. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish and Wildlife Leaflet 13.2.15. Waterfowl Management Handbook.
58. Merrifield, K. 1998. Waterbird Censuses of Yaquina Bay, Oregon: March 1993-February 1994. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Diversity Program. Tech. Report 98-1-01.
59. Merrifield, K. 2001. Larid, Alcid and Crow censuses of Yaquina Bay, Oregon: June 1997-June 1999. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Diversity Program. Tech. Report #01-05.
60. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2005. Oregon Threatened and Endangered Species List. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. [Their list was last updated on 1 September 2005.]
61. Audubon. 2002. Brant (Branta bernicla). National Audubon Society. [Audubon lists the status of Brant as "yellow"; the meaning of this status is at http://www.audubon.org/bird/watchlist/bs-bc-what_is_the_watchlist.html.]
62. Pacific Flyway Council. 2002. Pacific Flyway Management Plan for Pacific Brant. Pacific Flyway Study Commission, Portland, Oregon.
63. Wetzel, David J. 1996. Brant Use of Yaquina Estuary, Lincoln County, Oregon in the Spring of 1976. Journal of Oregon Ornithology 6:715-722.
64. Bayer, Range D. 1996. Censuses of Black Brant at Yaquina Estuary, Lincoln County, Oregon. Range D. Bayer. 1996 JOO 6:723-780.
65. Pitkin, David S. 2000. Wintering Ecology, Site Fidelity and Breeding Origins of Black Brant in Oregon. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2127 SE OSU Drive, Newport, Oregon. Unpubl. Report.
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