INTERNATIONAL BIRDS INITIATIVE

Alarmed about declines of scores of the world’s rarest and most beautiful birds, ornithologists submitted petitions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980 and 1991 to list 73 imperiled bird species from around the world under the Endangered Species Act. But after a quarter century of unreasonable delay, the agency has only listed a handful of the bird species. At least five of the 73 birds have gone extinct while waiting for protection.

The Center joined the battle to protect declining birds around the world in 2003, when we first sued the Service over its delay in issuing proposed listing rules for the 73 birds. As a result of that lawsuit, the Service issued a long-overdue finding that more than 50 of the birds warranted listing, but continued to insist that listing was precluded by higher-priority actions. A series of lawsuits by the Center has advanced listing for some of these rare birds. In our most recent lawsuit, the Center challenged the Service’s failure to publish proposed listing rules for 25 species and final listing rules for an additional six birds.

As a result of a settlement in that lawsuit, in 2009 the Service proposed to list as endangered the blue-billed curassow, brown-banded antpitta, Cauca guan, gorgeted wood-quail, Esmeraldas woodstar, black-hooded antwren, Brazilian merganser, cherry-throated tanager, fringe-backed fire-eye, Kaempfer’s tody-tyrant, Margaretta’s hermit and southeastern rufous-vented ground cuckoo. It proposed to list the salmon-crested cockatoo as threatened and published final listing rules for the Chatham petrel, Fiji petrel and magenta petrel as endangered. In 2010, as required by the 2009 settlement, the Service proposed to list six South American birds as endangered: the ash-breasted tit-tyrant, Junin grebe, Junin rail, Peruvian plantcutter, royal cinclodes and white-browed tit-spinetail. Also in 2010 — thanks to the same settlement — the Service listed the Galápagos petrel and Heinroth’s shearwater as threatened throughout their ranges; listed as endangered were the black-breasted puffleg, medium tree finch and seven Brazilian birds — the black-hooded antwren, Brazilian merganser, cherry-throated tanager, fringe-backed fire-eye, Kaempfer’s tody-tyrant, Margaretta’s hermit and southeastern rufous-vented ground cuckoo. The next year, the Service finalized protections for the Cantabrian capercaillie, Marquesan imperial pigeon, Eiao Marquesas reed warbler, greater adjutant, Jerdon’s courser and slender-billed curlew.

Listing international species under the Endangered Species Act restricts trade in vanishing species, increases conservation funding and attention to recovery efforts, and adds scrutiny to projects proposed by the U.S. government and multilateral lending agencies. The Center will continue our work to see that the magnificent imperiled birds that have not yet been listed gain the Act’s full protection.

CASE STUDIES: UNPROTECTED INTERNATIONAL BIRDS

Okinawa woodpecker
The Okinawa woodpecker lives in Yanbaru, a small, ecologically unique area of forested woodlands in northern Okinawa. The prefectural bird of Okinawa, this woodpecker is designated as a “national natural monument.” But the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and Japan’s Ministry of Environment have also designated the bird a critically endangered species because it has only a single, small declining population. One of the numerous threats to the woodpecker is the proposed construction of additional helicopter landing areas and related access roads for U.S. military training activities.

Blue-throated macaw
Bolivia’s blue-throated macaw, like many other exotic species, is suffering harm from trapping and trade — primarily for sale as a pet — and likely only numbers between 75 and 150 birds in the wild. The macaw is supposed to be protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but this treaty is relatively difficult to enforce, and without listing, the Service is unable to use the Endangered Species Act’s stronger enforcement options.

Slender-billed curlew

The slender-billed curlew is without a doubt one of the most critically imperiled bird species in the world. Though it was once commonly sighted along its migration route from Europe to Africa , humans have sighted only two curlews since 1997 and no curlew nests for more than 85 years. This bird’s wintering marsh habitat in the Persian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa is being rapidly destroyed, and the current world population may be a mere 50 to 270 birds.