The Salton Sea, just south of the Morongo Basin and Joshua Tree National Park, is one of the premiere birding areas in California, and a critical habitat for migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. For more than a century, the sea has served as a major nesting, wintering, and stopover site for millions of birds. Managing editor Tami Roleff says a new report says that the shrinking sea will have a profound effect on numerous bird species that rely on the sea for food…
More than 400 bird species have been spotted at the Salton Sea, a 35-mile-long manmade sea, which is filled with brine shrimp and tilapia fish. The sea hosts the largest population of shore and duck species in southern California. In fact, 30 percent of the American white pelican and 50 percent of the ruddy duck populations stop at the sea during the winter months, and a significant number of brown pelicans, western grebes, and eared grebes also stop there. However, the water-level drops since 2016 have increased the sea’s salinity to 60 parts per thousand, which has had a major impact on the fish and the birds who feed on them. While 20,000 white pelicans have been counted prior to 2016, 901 were seen at the sea in 2017, and 17 were seen in 2018. A California plan to address the problems at the Salton Sea is struggling to come up with the necessary funds. To read a copy of the report, visit the link below.
