Birds
Newport Bay is one of the top birding sites in the United States, as there are over 200 bird species that have made their homes here. Visiting the Back Bay will showcase the immense diversity of the bird inhabitants. The Back Bay is a vital area in the migration process; it serves as a sort of rest stop for birds migrating from Alaska or Canada. Some examples of birds that can be seen in the Back Bay are the light-footed clapper rail (Rallus longirostris levipes), the California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni), the Belding's savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi), and the Least Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus). All of these birds are considered endangered, on both the federal and the state levels.The bluffs surrounding the bay are also home to three sensitive species, the California Gnatcatcher, San Diego Cactus Wren, and Burrowing Owl.
Read more about this topic: Newport Back Bay
Famous quotes containing the word birds:
“Go, birds of spring: let winter have his fee;
Let a bleak paleness chalk the door,
So all within be livelier than before.”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)
“These beginnings of commerce on a lake in the wilderness are very interesting,—these larger white birds that come to keep company with the gulls.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Weighing the steadfastness and state
Of some mean things which here below reside,
Where birds like watchful clocks the noiseless date
And intercourse of times divide,”
—Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)