Watch: Kirtland’s warbler is endangered no more

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed the Kirtland’s warbler from the endangered species list, marking a recovery of the bird that went from just 167 nesting pairs in the mid-1970s to over 2,000 today. “We have the opportunity to celebrate the true purpose of the Endangered Species Act — the recovery of a species,” said Margaret Everson, principle deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at a de-listing ceremony Tuesday at Michigan State University. “All of us have recovered our beloved songbird.” The species remains reliant on conservation efforts to persist, though. Its specific habitat requirements means managers must continue to maintain the young stands of jack pine forests it occupies.

Read more in the Detroit Free Press, and watch below to see the efforts that have improved warbler habitat.