Seal Beach Naval Preserve Grapples with Bird Conflict

Some protected burrowing owls and endangered terns may be headed for a bloody conflict at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station when the predator owls grow large enough to eat the terns, the L.A. Times reports:

"Soon, the owls will be feasting on larger prey, including lizards, rodents and birds. That could present a touchy problem for the base's 1,000-acre wildlife refuge, which is also home to a breeding colony of federally endangered least terns.

"There are four breeding pairs of burrowing owls left along the Southern California coast between Santa Barbara and Encinitas, and all of them nest at the Orange County base.

"The terns are about a half-mile away from the owls' nest in a hole once inhabited by ground squirrels. Burrowing owls, which are listed as a 'species of special concern' by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, tend to feed within a mile of their nest. The owl's designation provides modest protections assigned to animals deemed at risk but not threatened or endangered."

Read the rest of the L.A. Times story here.