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Description

In the Fall of 2017, the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) contracted with a consultant of the State of California Dept. of Fish & Game Wildlife Branch, Ryan Ecological Consulting, to collaborate on solutions to American crow Corvus brachyrhyncos predation on Least tern eggs and chicks in the Venice Beach Least tern colony. Least terns prefer nesting in low sand dunes with light vegetation. As a result of urban expansion and beach combing, Least terns, a federally endangered bird, have lost much of their preferred nesting habitat in Southern California and have become vulnerable to crow predation at the few remaining nesting sites like Venice Beach. The aim of the CURes Venice Beach field study includes: • trapping and banding crows in order to determine resident vs. transient crow populations • using predator aversion strategies, including pseudo tern nests with mildly electrified decoy eggs, to deter the crows from entering the fencedin enclosure • monitoring Least tern populations as they arrive during the 2019 nesting season The ultimate goal of the project is to increase Least tern reproductive output, which has been extremely low in the past decade.

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Population Studies for Predator Aversion Project at the Venice Beach Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) Colony

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