Rice crop, birds at risk

The nests of hundreds of thousands of birds and the food for millions more could be imperiled this year because of fewer rice crops in California — the latest symptom of the state’s historic drought.

About 375,000 acres of rice are expected to be planted this year, a 30% decrease from a typical year and the lowest in California since 1991, according to a statement from the California Rice Commission.

In summer, the rice is used as nesting for native mallards and shore birds, said Mark Biddlecomb, a director of Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands conservation group.

In the fall, after the rice is harvested, the fields are flooded and the remaining grain becomes food for up to 7 million ducks and geese in the Sacramento River Valley, he said. If the crop is reduced, the feeding area becomes more concentrated, which makes the population more vulnerable to diseases.

“I hate to say it’s cascading, but it kind of is,” Biddlecomb said of the drought’s effects.

In 2014, only about 408,000 acres of rice were planted. If not for a fortuitous spell of strong winter storms in late December that expanded feeding grounds, an outbreak of Avian botulism within the fowl population would have spread further, he said.

“This coming winter, if that doesn’t happen, and if we don’t use our water resources wisely … we can really be in a world of hurt,” Biddlecomb said.