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s • • Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report Page IV.F-15 Forward Inc. Landfill 2018 Expansion Project • • White-tailed Kite • • White-tailed kites (Elan us leucurus) is a state Fully Protected species. It inhabits grasslands, • agriculture fields, oak woodlands, savanna and riparian habitats in rural and urban areas. The • species typically nests in trees surrounded by open foraging habitat. Based on the CNDDB (2018), the closest documented nesting location is approximately 4 miles northwest of the • project site. The species has been observed foraging over the site and could nest in suitable • trees on or adjacent to the study area. Other Special-Status Species • Tricolored Blackbird Tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is a Federal Bird of Conservation Concern and a California Species of Special Concern. This species typically nests in large colonies in dense • stands of cattails or toles in freshwater, emergent wetlands. Tricolored blackbird has also been • observed nesting in dense stands of willows,blackberry, wild rose, and tall herbs (Zeiner et al. • 1990). It is found throughout the Central Valley and along the coast south of Sonoma, and • forages on grasslands, cropland, and along edges of ponds for insects, seeds, and grains. The vegetation associated with the North Branch of the South Fork of the Littlejohn's Creek provides • potentially suitable nesting habitat for this species. Burrowing Owl • The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is a California Species of Special Concern and a federal • Bird of Conservation Concern. Burrowing owls range throughout the Central Valley, the inner • and outer coastal regions, portions of the San Francisco Bay Area, the southern California coast from southern California to the Mexican Border, the Imperial Valley, and in portions of the • desert and high desert habitats in southeastem and northeastern California. • • Burrowing owls require habitat with three basic attributes: open, well-drained terrain;short, • sparse vegetation; and underground burrows or burrow facsimiles. Throughout their range burrowing owls occupy grasslands, deserts, sagebrush scrub, agricultural areas (including • pastures and untilled margins of cropland), earthen levees and berms, coastal uplands, urban • vacant lots, and the margins of airports, golf courses, and roads (Haug, et al. 1993). Burrowing • owls rely on burrows excavated by fossorial mammals or reptiles, including ground squirrels, • badgers, skunks, foxes and coyotes. Where the number and availability of natural burrows is limited (for example, where burrows have been destroyed or ground squirrels eradicated),owls • will occupy drainage culverts, cavities under piles of rubble, discarded pipe, and other tunnel • like structures (Haug, et al. 1993). Breeding typically occurs March through August, with the • peak in April and May (CDFG 2005). • As shown in Figure IV.F.1, burrowing owls have been recorded in several locations within 3 • miles of the study area,with the closest documented occurrence being approximately 1-mile • north of the project site. Portions of the landfill provide potential habitat, but the lack (or low • • • •