Editing Mono Lake (section)

===Birds===
[[File:Mono Lake South Tufa Area (2013) 33.JPG|thumb|A female [[Audubon's warbler]] on tufa in the "South Tufa" area.]]
Mono Lake is a vital resting and eating stop for migratory [[wader|shorebirds]] and has been recognized as a site of international importance by the [[Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network]].<ref name=whsrn>{{cite web|title=Mono Lake|work=Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network|url=http://www.whsrn.org/site-profile/mono-lake|access-date=2011-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727231259/http://www.whsrn.org/site-profile/mono-lake|archive-date=2011-07-27|url-status=live}}</ref>
Nearly 2,000,000 [[waterbird]]s, including 35 [[species]] of shorebirds, use Mono Lake to rest and eat for at least part of the year. Some shorebirds that depend on the resources of Mono Lake include [[American avocet]]s, [[killdeer]], and [[sandpiper]]s. One to two million [[black-necked grebe|eared grebes]] and [[phalarope]]s use Mono Lake during their long migrations.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 August 2020 |title=Birds |url=https://www.monolake.org/learn/aboutmonolake/naturalhistory/birds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405010612/https://www.monolake.org/learn/aboutmonolake/naturalhistory/birds/ |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |access-date=2023-05-30 |publisher=Mono Lake Committee}}</ref>

Late every summer tens of thousands of [[Wilson's phalarope]]s and [[red-necked phalarope]]s arrive from their nesting grounds, and feed until they continue their migration to [[South America]] or the tropical oceans respectively.<ref name="mlcbirds"/>

In addition to migratory birds, a few species spend several months to nest at Mono Lake. Mono Lake has the second largest nesting population of [[California gull]]s, ''Larus californicus'', second only to the [[Great Salt Lake]] in Utah. Since abandoning the landbridged Negit Island in the late 1970s, California gulls have moved to some nearby islets and have established new, if less protected, nesting sites. [[Cornell University]] and [[Point Blue Conservation Science]] have continued the study of nesting populations on Mono Lake that was begun 35 years ago. [[Snowy plover]]s also arrive at Mono Lake each spring to nest along the northern and eastern shores.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shuford|first1=David|last2=Page|first2=Gary|last3=Heath|first3=Sacha|last4=Nelson|first4=Kristie|year=2016|title=Factors influencing the abundance and distribution of the Snowy Plover at Mono Lake, California|journal=Western Birds|volume=47|pages=38–49}}</ref>