Threatened and Endangered Species West Indian Sample Clauses

Threatened and Endangered Species West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) West Indian manatees (Federally listed as endangered) occasionally enter Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, and associated coastal waters and streams, during the summer months (i.e., June through September). Manatees have been regularly reported in the Amite, Blind, Tchefuncte, and Tickfaw Rivers, and in canals within the adjacent coastal marshes of Louisiana. They have also been occasionally observed elsewhere along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The manatee has declined in numbers due to collisions with boats and barges, entrapment in flood control structures, poaching, habitat loss, and pollution. Cold weather and outbreaks of red tide may also adversely affect these animals. Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) Endangered brown pelicans are currently known to nest on Raccoon Island on Isles Dernieres, Queen Bess Island, Plover Island (Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx), Wine Island, Rabbit Island in Calcasieu Lake, and islands in the Chandeleur barrier island chain. Pelicans change nesting sites as habitat changes occur; thus, they may also be found nesting on mud lumps at the mouth of South Pass (Mississippi River Delta) and on small islands in St. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx. In winter, spring, and summer, nests are built in mangrove trees or other shrubby vegetation, although occasional ground nesting may occur. Brown pelicans feed in shallow estuarine water, using sand spits and offshore sand bars as rest and roost areas. Major threats to this species include chemical pollutants, colony site erosion, disease, and human disturbance. Piping plover (Charadrius melodus) Federally listed as a threatened species, the piping plover (Charadrius melodus), as well as its designated critical habitat, occurs along the Louisiana coast including Point Au Fer Island in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Piping plovers winter in Louisiana, and may be present for 8 to 10 months. They arrive from the breeding grounds as early as late July and remain until late March or April. Piping plovers feed extensively on intertidal beaches, mudflats, sandflats, algal flats, and wash-over passes with no or very sparse emergent vegetation; they also require unvegetated or sparsely vegetated areas for roosting. Roosting areas may have debris, detritus, or micro-topographic relief offering refuge to plovers from high winds and cold weather. In most areas, wintering piping plovers are dependent on a mosaic of sites distributed throughout the landscape, because the suitability of a particula...