OAKLAND, Calif. -- A recent survey shows that a casino proposed for a large paved parking lot near the Oakland airport would threaten habitats of at least 66 bird species, including two federally endangered species, according to the Golden Gate Audubon Society.

The Golden Gate Chapter, which is based in Berkeley, said the 66 different bird species, including the endangered California Clapper Rail and Brown Pelican, were counted during its annual Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 19.

The Arrowhead Marsh complex where the count was made includes a successfully restored 72-acre wetland and is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline Park, directly adjacent to the site recently proposed for a large casino.

Elizabeth Murdock, the group's executive director, said, "Arrowhead Marsh is one of the premier natural wildlife habitats on San Francisco Bay" and hosts some of the most significant populations of shorebirds and waterfowl in the Central Bay.

Murdock said, "The species we counted last weekend are only an indication of the species that are currently present at the marsh" and the 66 species counted don't include many other species that she said depend on the marsh during spring and fall migrations.

More than 90 species have been spotted over the last five years when the Audubon Society has surveyed the Marsh, she said.

A large paved parking lot at Swan Way and Doolittle Drive that directly borders the protected marsh has been proposed as the site of a 24-hour casino with 2,000 slot machines, a resort and spa, which would be operated by the Lower Lake Rancheria-Koi Nation Indian tribe.

Arthur Feinstein, the Golden Gate Audubon's conservation director, said, "The operations of a large, noisy and brightly lit casino are completely incompatible with the continued health of this fragile sanctuary."

Feinstein said, "Lights interfere with bird breeding behavior, and lights will make it easier for predators such as rats, ravens and raccoons to devastate the nests of breeding Black-Necked Stilts, American Avocets and Pintail ducks, as well as threaten the endangered California Clapper Rail. The marsh hosted 61 Clapper Rails on a recent census, which is more than 5 percent of the world's total existing population."

The casino proposal will next be considered at 4 p.m. on Jan. 11 at a meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee at Hearing Room 1 on the first floor of the Oakland City Hall.

The Golden Gate Audubon Society said it successfully sued the Port of Oakland over its unapproved destruction of wetlands on Oakland airport property in 1986.

The settlement included setting aside $2.5 million for restoration of wetlands at Arrowhead Marsh. Those funds were used to restore and extend the portion of Arrowhead Marsh that is closest to the proposed casino site and now provides such a habitat to many wildlife species. The park also receives about 300,000 visitors a year.

Audubon officials say Arrowhead Marsh is part of a larger bird count sector in the San Leandro Bay area, which includes Arrowhead Marsh and the open waters and shorelines of San Leandro Bay, which is bounded by the Nimitz Freeway, Alameda Island, the airport channel and Davis Street.

Birds observed within this larger count sector included a total of 84 species, including 26 California Clapper Rails, Audubon officials said.