LONG TIME NO HEAR TINY SONGBIRD MAKING COMEBACK.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

A chatty songbird thought to have disappeared from the Central Valley 60 years ago has been spotted nesting in a patch of restored habitat along the San Joaquin River.

The least Bell's vireo, a small gray songbird that fits in a closed fist, once was found along the Santa Clara River and was widespread in the Central Valley.

It disappeared from the area as the riparian habitat it favors was ripped up to make way for development and agriculture. About 90 percent of the valley's historic riverside vegetation has been lost, said Al Donner, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The bird was put on the federal endangered species list in 1986, when there were only about 300 pairs left in the low-lying shrubbery along creeks and streams in Southern California.

But some say the sighting in the Central Valley is a sign of a modest comeback.

``They are increasing in general in riparian low woodlands,'' said Kimball Garrett, an ornithologist with the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. ``For example, along the Santa Clara in Santa Clarita, there are several pairs. In the Hansen Dam area, they have really just appeared there within the last 10 years.''

Some of the increase in populations is due to regrowth and changing habitats. At Hansen Dam, for example, the cessation of gravel extraction has led to regrowth in the area.

And in the city of Corona, cowbirds, which are known to lay eggs in a vireo's nest, are being trapped, giving the smaller bird a little peace and space, Garrett said.

But more information needs to be processed to know for sure whether a comeback is under way, Garrett said. What bird-watchers have noticed, however, is that the vireos respond well to managed habitats. Not many birds do, Garrett said.

``It's hard to say if (the Central Valley's sighting) was a fluke,'' Garrett said.

Linette Lina, a seasonal biologist at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge west of Modesto, first recognized the vireo by its distinctive song last Friday.

``It's unlike any other song out there,'' she said. ``They're little birds, but they sing loudly, and a lot.''

Dropping her equipment, Lina focused her binoculars on the bird - a male perched on a branch about 30 feet away, singing and shaking his tail feathers. As she called her supervisor about the discovery, a female joined him and did a mating dance.

Further investigation showed the nesting pair was feeding two baby birds, which were just learning to fly, said Lina, who does bird counts and observation for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory Conservation Science.

Other bird monitors were called to verify the finding, and they were able to record the birds and confirm the species Tuesday.

The area where they were found had been a ranch, which was bought in 1998 and restored over the past three years by Fish and Wildlife with help from the state of California.