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Environmental Law

: ESA Blawg

Responding to petition, FWS announces 90-day findings on 14 parrot species

By Keith Rizzardi

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74 Fed. Reg. 33957 / Vol. 74, No. 133 / Tuesday, July 14, 2009 / Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service / 50 CFR Part 17 / Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List 14 Parrot Species as Threatened or Endangered

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), the following 14 parrot species: Blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis), blue-headed macaw (Primolius couloni), crimson shining parrot (Prosopeia splendens), great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), greycheeked parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera), hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), military macaw (Ara militaris), Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), red-crowned parrot (Amazona viridigenalis), scarlet macaw (Ara macao), thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha), white cockatoo (Cacatua alba), yellow-billed parrot (Amazona collaria), and yellowcrested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea). The thick-billed parrot is listed as an endangered species under the Act throughout its range. As such, we will not be addressing it further as part of this petition. We have also previously determined that the blue-throated macaw warrants listing in response to a 1991 petition and has been a candidate species since. Because we have recently re-evaluated the status of this species as part of our 2008 Annual Notice of Review, we will not address it further as part of this petition. We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the remaining 12 species of parrots may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of these 12 species of parrots to determine if listing is warranted. To ensure that the status reviews are comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data regarding these 12 species. Additionally, we are seeking any recent information concerning the bluethroated macaw so that it can be taken into consideration in our evaluation of its status when we do our re-evaluation as part of the 2009 Annual Notice of Review.

DATES: We made the finding announced in this document on July 14, 2009. To allow us adequate time to conduct the 12-month status review, we request that we receive information on or before September 14, 2009.

The crimson shining parrot, a species worthy of a national stamp (image from birdtheme.org), is endemic to the islands of Fiji where it is found in forests, on agricultural lands, and around human habitation (IUCN 2008l). The petition claims that the primary threats to the species are the pet trade and habitat destruction. The petition asserts that a decline in the mangrove forest area in the near future will place habitat pressure on the species.

Full post as published by ESA Blawg on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).