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California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) <br /> in the Redwood Shores Area* <br /> Perennial inhabitant of greater San Francisco Bay tidal marshes. <br /> � . � �� <br /> � �.,���� � . ,�,: <br /> �� � <br /> ...� ��� ��� , �, : <br /> �.. _, �+r,.�. <br /> • { . �•,. ti.; <br /> � - "a�-•. •'t. �. <br /> 4 ; +�} <br /> X � L � <br /> f <br /> � Y <br /> I <br /> , titi � � �� � <br /> � — f .��. �f � ��� <br /> Federal endangered species: 35 Pede�alKegzste� 16047 —16048 (13 October 1970). <br /> California endangered species: Tirle 14, Califo�nia Code ofKegulations, � 670.5 (27 June 1971). <br /> DeSCPIptIOn. The California clapper rail, a secretive, "henlike" waterbird, is one of the largest rails, <br /> measuring approximately 13 to 19 inches from bill to tail and weighing about 250 to 300 grams. The <br /> bird has a long slightly downward-curving orange bill, a cinnamon-buff colored breast, olive-brown <br /> upper parts, black and white barred flanks, and white undertail coverts. The brown back feathers are <br /> edged with gray. Males are slightly larger than the females. The young have a pale bill and dark <br /> plumage. <br /> DIStPlbutlOn. California clapper rail populations are currently limited to San Francisco Bay, San <br /> Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, and the tidal marshes associated with estuarine sloughs that drain into these <br /> bays. <br /> HlstOry. Historically, California clapper rails ranged within coastal tidal marshes from Humboldt <br /> Bay southward to Elkhorn Slough and Morro Bay and from the estuarine marshes of San Francisco <br /> and San Pablo bays to the Carquinez Strait (LSA, 2004). The highest density of clapper rails <br /> historically was found in south San Francisco Bay. In 1880, the California clapper rail was classified <br /> as a distinct species, reclassified as a clapper rail population in 1926, and recognized as one of <br /> numerous clapper rail subspecies in 1977 (Erlich et al., 1992). Before about 1900, "thousands" of <br /> clapper rails were reportedly killed by hunters each week (Thelander, 1994). The Migratory Bird <br /> * PREPARED BY MS. TUNSTALL LANG, JD, REA, OF THE HUFFMAN-BROADWAY GROUP, INC. <br /> PAGE 1 OF 46 <br />