Chapters 1 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Refuge Resources
Table 4-11
Birds of Conservation Concern on and adjacent to the Seal Beach NWR
Common Name Scientific Name Foraging Abundance Included on BCC List
Habitat(s) on Seal BCR Region
Beach NWR 32 8
Common yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
sinuosa
Uplands Occasional Yes Yes No
Green-tailed towhee Pipilo chlorurus Uplands Unusual No Yes No
Nelson’s Sharp-tailed
Sparrow
Ammodramus nelsoni Uplands Occasional No No Yes
Tricolored blackbird Agelaius tricolor Wetland n/a Yes Yes Yes
1 National List Observed on the adjacent NWS Seal Beach, but not on the Refuge. Source: (USFWS 2008)
The California Department of Fish and Game (2009) maintains a list a special status mammals,
birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. The taxa on this list, which are considered to be those of
greatest conservation need in California, include species, subspecies, or distinct population of a
species native to California that generally fall into one or more of the following criteria:
Officially listed or proposed for listing under the State and/or Federal Endangered
Species Acts;
State or Federal candidate for possible listing;
Meet the criteria for listing, even if not currently included on any list;
California Species of Special Concern, as defined by the Department of Fish and Game;
Biologically rare, very restricted in distribution, declining throughout their range, or have
a critical, vulnerable stage in their life cycle that warrants monitoring;
Populations in California that may be on the periphery of a taxon’s range, but are
threatened with extirpation in California;
Closely associated with a habitat that is declining in California at an alarming rate; and
Designated as a special status, sensitive, or declining species by other state or federal
agencies, or non-governmental organization.
The State also maintains a special plants list entitled “Special Vascular Plants, Bryophytes, and
Lichens List” (California Department of Fish and Game 2010). “Special Plants” is a broad term
used to refer to all the plant taxa inventoried by the Department of Fish and Game’s California
Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), regardless of their legal or protection status. Special
Plants include vascular plants, high priority bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts), and
lichens. Special Plant taxa, which can include vascular plants, high priority bryophytes (e.g.,
mosses, liverworts, and hornworts), and lichens, are species, subspecies, or varieties that fall into
one or more of the following categories: 1) officially listed by California or the Federal government
as endangered, threatened, or rare; 2) a candidate for state or federal listing as endangered,
threatened, or rare; 3) taxa which meet the criteria for listing, even if not currently included on any
list, per the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines; 4) Bureau of Land Management,
USFWS, or U.S. Forest Service Sensitive Species; 5) taxa listed in the California Native Plant
Society’s Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California; 6) taxa that are biologically
rare, very restricted in distribution, or declining throughout their range but not currently
threatened with extirpation; 7) population(s) in California that may be peripheral to the major
portion of a taxon’s range but are threatened with extirpation in California; and 8) taxa closely
associated with a habitat that is declining in California at a significant rate.
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Assessment 4-73
U.S. 1