U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday the first revisions to the list of birds species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act since 1985, including the addition of 24 species that occur only in Hawaii and 28 species from American Samoa, the Mariana Islands, or Baker and Howland Islands.
“This update to the list of federally protected birds reflects the best available science on bird taxonomy and distribution and will help us improve management of our nation's migratory birds,” said acting director Rowan Gould. “The new list benefits researches, hunters, conservationists, state agencies, tribal governments, and birdwatchers by extending federal protection to all migratory bird species native to the United State while highlighting advances and changes in bird taxonomy that have accumulated since the list was last published.”
The changes include 186 new additions and 11 subtractions, bringing the total number of species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to 1,007. Species appearing on this list are protected from take (killing, capturing, or attempts to kill or capture of adults, eggs, or nests) and from commercial use, unless authorized under migratory bird permits or hunting regulations. Many of the Hawaiian species and five Mariana Island species are already protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Sixty-five species were added to the list based on documented sighting within the United States, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1985, including three new species for Hawaii. Twenty-four species from the Fringilladae family were added to the list, including many of the Hawaiian forest bird species and three species from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. In addition, 28 species occurring naturally in American Samoa, Baker and Howland Islands, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands were also added.
The revisions also remove species no longer known to occur within the United States and change some names to conform to accepted usages. The change also reflect taxonomic revisions to the bird taxa of North America published by the American Ornithologists' Union, and changes in the Migratory Bird List incorporate name changes and revisions moving some species from one taxon to another.
The Mariana Islands bird species included on the list are the black bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis), little pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos), Marianas crow (Corvus kubaryi), Mariana fruit dove (Ptilinopus reseicapilla), Nordmann's greenshank (Tringa guttifer), white-throated ground dove (Gallicoluma xanthonura), gray heron (Ardea cinerea), collared kingfisher (Todihamphus chloris), Micronesian kingfisher (Todihamphus cinnamominus), Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Guam rail (Gallirallus owstoni), nightingale reed warbler (Acrocephalus luscinia), Matsudaira's storm petrel (Oceanodroma matsudairae), and Mariana swiftlet (Aerodramus bartschi).
American Samoa species included on the list are the spotless crake, Pacific black duck, crimson-crowned fruit dove, many-colored fruit dove, friendly ground dove, Pacific imperial pigeon, collared kingfisher, Gould's petrel, Tahiti petrel, buff-banded rail, Polynesian storm petrel, white-bellied storm petrel, purple swamp hen, and white-rumped swiftlet.
Baker and Howland Islands only had one entry: the Phoenix petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera)
The final rule can be found online at http://migratorybirds.fws.gov. (FWS)
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