Did you know that there are 22 sensitive and endangered species that rely on the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach, California?
As of January 2011, that list includes 16 bird, 1 reptile, and 5 plant species. The full list below doesn’t include the 200+ other birds that call the wetlands home, but it does give you a sense of how important this place is.
Birds
- Peregrine – (Falco peregrinus anatum) – recently delisted
- White tailed kite – (Elanus leucurus) – California Fully Protected
- Loggerhead Shrike – (Lanius ludovicianus) – California Species of Special Concern
- California Gnatcatcher – (Polioptila californica californica) – Federal Threatened
- Burrowing Owl – (Athene cunicularia) – California Species of Special Concern
- Cooper’s Hawk – (Accipiter cooperii) – California Watch List
- Merlin – (Falco columbarius) – California Watch List
- Northern Harrier – (Circus cyaneus) – California Species of Special Concern
- Osprey – (Pandion haliaetus) – California Watch List
- Sharp-shinned Hawk – (Accipiter striatus) – California Watch List
- Northern Cardinal – (Cardinalis cardinalis) – California Watch List
- Olive-sided Flycatcher – (Contopus cooperi) – California Species of Special Concern, USFWS Birds of Conservation Concern
- Tricolored Blackbird – (Agelaius tricolor) – California Species of Special Concern, USFWS Birds of Conservation Concern
- Yellow-headed Blackbird – (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) – California Species of Special Concern
- Yellow Warbler – (Dendroica petechia brewsteri) – California Species of Special Concern
- Yellow-breasted Chat – (Icteria virens) – California Species of Special Concern
Reptiles
- Silvery Legless Lizard – (Anniella pulchra pulchra) – California Species of Special Concern
Plants
- Southern tarplant – (Centromadia parryi ssp. Australis) – CNPS 1B.1
- Southwestern spiny rush – (Juncus acutus ssp. Leopoldii) – CNPS 4.2
- California box thorn – (Lycium californicum) – CNPS 4.2
- Coast Woolly Heads – (Nemacaulis denudata var. denudata) – CNPS 1B.2
- Woolly sea-blite – (Suaeda taxifolia) – CNPS 4.2
// Information provided from the California Department of Fish and Game – Lower Mesa Restoration Project