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they have nested successfully between 
runways on airports, on parking lots and 
freeway cloverleafs, and on an aban- 
doned trash dump, to name just a few. 
Adaptability notwithstanding, the least 
tern was fighting a losing battle in south- 
ern California as coastal lands were re- 
lentlessly developed and would not have 
been around much longer if drastic steps 
had not been taken. 
The passage of the federal Endan- 
gered Species Act in 1969 began a re- 
versal of the downward spiral. The act 
covered not only species of endangered 
animals (for example, the California 
condor, Gymnogyps californianus, but 
also subspecies that were in jeopardy). 
California quickly passed its own act, 
and finally, there was legislation that 
could be used to assist beleaguered ani- 
mals such as the California least tern. A 
list of endangered species and subspe- 
cies was drawn up by the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, the state of California 
followed with its own list, and the Cali- 
fornia least tern was on both lists. 
My involvement with the birds began 
at this time. I was a middle-aged re- 
turnee to graduate school at California 
State University, Long Beach, retrain- 
ing to become a field biologist. For a 
master’s thesis project, I wished to do a 
field study, and my adviser, ornitholo- 
gist Charles T. Collins, suggested the 
California least tern. It had just been 
listed as 'endangered, but there was al- 
most no information on its breeding biol- 
ogy and, thus, no guidelines as to how to 
protect it. Several local breeding colo- 
nies made daily observations feasible. 
My commitment to the terns, in retro- 
spect, was instant and total. 
In 1971 the California Department of 
Fish and Game began to protect the 
birds during the breeding season and to 
fund some preliminary studies. A survey 
of nesting sites was made in 1971, and in 
1973 the first statewide census was tak- 
en. The passage of the California 
Coastal Zone Act in 1 972 resulted in the 
creation of regional commissions to 
monitor development along the coast 
and a statewide commission to hear ap- 
peals. The California Coastal Plan, writ- 
ten by the staffs of both the local and 
state commissions, was approved by the 
state legislature in 1976. A priority item 
in the plan is the preservation and resto- 
ration of coastal wetlands. Since its in- 
ception, the state commission has taken 
a strong stand on protection of coastal 
wetlands and endangered species and 
has supported all efforts made on behalf 
of the least tern. 
The Endangered Species Act was 
much strengthened by Congress in 
1973, and one of the results of the 
amended act was the formation of a 
recovery team to watch over the Califor- 
nia least tern. Since 1974, the team has 
played a vital role in the turnaround in 
the fortunes of the tern (it is almost 
impossible to write about terns without 
at least one play on words). The team 
was charged with writing a recovery 
plan spelling out the procedures neces- 
sary to insure the survival of this endan- 
gered bird. One of the most important 
aspects of the plan was the delineation 
of habitats considered essential for suc- 
cessful breeding. Included were nest 
sites, fishing areas, loafing spots, night 
roosts — any place that was of impor- 
tance in the breeding cycle and was in 
regular use by the birds during some 
part of their stay in California. The plan 
In a sequence of courtship and mating, 
a male approaches a female with a 
fish. After much head moving and 
wing fluttering, the male mounts the 
female. During copulation the female 
reaches up and takes the fish. 
was completed in 1977 and approved by 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 
1980. 
Protection of the terns’ habitat is the 
core of the recovery plan. Currently, 
there are about a dozen nest sites under 
the protective aegis of a federal, state, or 
other public agency; the plan recom- 
mends secure nest sites in “at least 
twenty coastal wetlands ecosystems” 
throughout the birds’ range. An annual 
census of the breeding population, sur- 
veillance of all colonies during the nest- 
ing season to spot and correct problems 
as they arise, creation of new nesting 
sites, research programs to learn more 
about the birds’ breeding biology, explo- 
ration of Baja California during the 
spring to identify the rest of the breed- 
ing range, and exploration of the west id 
coasts of Mexico and Central America 
to determine the wintering range are all 
aspects of the plan that have been imple- 
mented in varying degrees. 
Since the first breeding census in 
1973, the population has been moni- 
tored annually with funds made possible 
by the Endangered Species Act. About 
six hundred pairs were estimated in 
1973 and for the next three years that 
figure remained stable. In 1977 there 
was a modest increase of about fifty 
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