Most egg laying occurs from early April to 

 early May, with 3 to 11 eggs per clutch, usually 5 

 to 9. The incubation period averages 23 days 

 Qorgensen, 1975). 



Both sexes are believed to incubate (Bent 

 1926). At Tijuana Estuary 86% of 28 active nests 

 successfully hatched at least 1 egg. There were 

 losses due to eggs being washed away by high 

 tides and failure to hatch for unknown reasons. 

 Chicks were found dead in several nests apparently 

 from drowning, although young are said to be 

 able to swim at day of hatching (Bent 1926). 

 Nests have been destroyed by rats. At least some 

 renesting occurs and some pairs may raise second 

 broods. 



MANAGEMENT 



A recovery team was appointed and a recovery 

 plan prepared in January 1977. The light-footed 

 clapper rail is endangered because its range is 

 limited to a relatively small remnant of suitable 

 marsh habitat, and this remnant continues to de- 

 crease. Arresting the decline of the rail population 

 requires stopping all loss and degradation of exist- 

 ing habitat. Even then, population will remciin 

 threatened because each segment is so small it 

 could easily be eradicated by pollution, disease, 

 predation, or other local catastrophes. 



The recovery plan proposed by the Light- 

 Footed Clapper Rail Recovery Team includes: 

 (1) protecting all existing habitat; (2) increasing 

 its carrying capacity and stability, thereby in- 

 creasing the size of each population unit; and 

 (3) creating and stocking new habitat. The objec- 

 tive of the recovery plan is to develop and maintain 

 a breeding population of at least 400 pairs of light- 

 footed clapper rails well distributed geographi- 

 cally. This can be done by preserving and restor- 

 ing approximately 1620 ha. of tidal saltmarsh 

 habitat in 15 or more coastal marshes. Addition- 

 ally, efforts should be made to have occupied 

 salt marsh habitat preserved in Baja California. 



An action program to achieve these objectives 

 includes: (1) preserving and increasing existing 

 populations by preserving existing habitat, pre- 

 venting development or degradation, increasing 

 amount of habitat, and reducing effect of other 

 limiting factors; (2) reestablishing former rail 

 populations by restoring tidal flow to previously 

 inhabited marshes, restoring cordgrass-pickleweed 

 vegetation by planting if it fails to volunteer, and 



transplanting rails to new sites; (3) monitoring 

 rail populations to determine progress of manage- 

 ment and status of the populations; and (4) carry- 

 ing on a program of education and planning ad- 

 vise directed toward preservation of rail habitat 

 (Recovery Team 1977). Saving Tijuana Marsh is 

 the chief priority for recovery of the light-footed 

 clapper rail (Sanford Wilbur pers. comm.). 



AUTHORITIES 



Sanford R. Wilbur 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 1190 E. Ojai Avenue 

 Ojai, California 93023 



Ronald M. Jurek 



California Dept. of Fish and Game 



1416 9th Street 



Sacramento, California 95814 



Ronald Hein 



California Department of Fish and Game 



Long Beach, California 90840 



Charles T. Collins 



Department of Biology 



California State University at Long Beach 



Long Beach, California 90840 



R. Guy McCaskie 

 1310 14th Street 

 Imperial Beach, California 92032 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



Because of the very small populations and 

 limited suitable habitat that appears to be rapidly 

 diminishing, the light-footed clapper rail appears 

 to be in extreme jeopardy. Only vigorous efforts 

 to preserve a number of unpolluted salt marshes 

 with free-flowing tidal currents will be effective 

 in saving this subspecies from extinction. 



LITERATURE CITED/SELECTED 

 REFERENCES 



American Ornithologists' Union. 1957. Check-list 

 of North American birds. 5th ed. Baltimore, 

 Md. AOU. 641pp. 



Bangs, O. 1899. A new rail from southern Cali- 

 fornia, Proc. New Eng. Zool. Club 1:45-46. 



Belding, L. 1883. Catalogue of a collection of 

 birds made at various points along the western 

 coast of Lower California, north of Cape St. 



