UPDATE, JUNE 7: In this new blog post, see photos that reveal the Golden-winged Warbler's struggle against the Blue-winged Warbler.
The Golden-winged Warbler (right), a small songbird found in the north-central and eastern United States, may warrant federal protection as a threatened or endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.
Populations of the handsome masked warbler have been declining because of poor reproductive success, owing in part to Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism, high rates of nest predation, and hybridization and competition with Blue-winged Warblers.
The decision was announced in the Federal Register. If, after a 90-day review required by the Endangered Species Act, the bird is listed, we'll have a student of Penn State's law school to thank for the bird's protection.
Anna Sewell, a 2010 graduate of the Dickinson School of Law, turned a paper for a seminar class into a formal petition requesting that FWS list the bird. She filed the 29-page petition (pdf here) in February 2010. Professor Jamison Colburn, who teaches a seminar on endangered species, advised her on the process. Sewell was the first of Colburn's students to turn a paper into a full-blown filing, according to the Penn State news service.
“My interest in environmental law is ultimately driven by my desire to protect wildlife and natural resources,” said Sewell. “The petition presented an opportunity to use my course work to begin fulfilling this objective.”
If the warbler is protected, it would be the first new bird species from the lower 48 states added to the Endangered Species List since the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher was listed as endangered in 1995.
You can read more about the FWS decision in this press release. More details about the bird are on the FWS Golden-winged Warbler page. —Matt Mendenhall, Associate Editor
Photo: Golden-winged Warbler, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
How to help
Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Where to see Golden-winged Warblers
• Carden Alvar, Kirkfield, Ontario
• Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, Grantsburg, Wisconsin
• Russ Pitman Park, Bellaire, Texas
• Sterling Forest State Park, Tuxedo, New York