Hawaiian Hawk Removed From Endangered List

https://www.courthousenews.com/rebounding-hawaiian-hawk-removed-from-endangered-list/




Dec 31, 2019

The io, as it is also known, hunts alone, resting and nesting in the verdant forests of the Big Island of Hawaii. While most hawks are solitary, they often congregate when they migrate. A flock of hawks is called a kettle. But the io – the only hawk native to Hawaii – does not migrate, instead preferring to remain within the comfortable environs of the Big Island. But that island was not always comfortable for the bird, as forest degradation in the early 20th century combined with illegal shootings, vehicle collisions and starvation reduced the population of the raptor to a mere couple hundred.

The precipitous decrease in population led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Hawaiian hawk as endangered in 1967. But forest conservation efforts, combined with a decline in illegal shootings resulted in a considerable rebound in the hawk’s population over the ensuing decades. On Tuesday, the service delisted the Hawaiian hawk, saying the population of the bird is at least 3,000.




Hawaiian Hawk, Macaulay library, Timothy Barksdale

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/425046


https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/425026