Rare Texas songbird removed from endangered species list

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal officials have announced that the population of the black-capped vireo has recovered and the rare Texas songbird will be removed from the endangered species list.

The announcement Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service comes after the agency first proposed the move in 2016.

The agency intends to monitor the bird to ensure its numbers continue to grow. The bird is also found in Oklahoma.

The black-capped vireo was declared endangered in 1987 when there were only an estimated 350 adult birds in the U.S. and Mexico. Habitat loss and other factors cut their numbers. There’s now an estimated 14,000.

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Property rights groups had urged the move while birders and conservation organizations had asked U.S. Fish and Wildlife to refrain from delisting the bird.