WASHINGTON (CN) - The public will have 30 more days to comment the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to list four species of birds from Columbia, and one from Ecuador as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The Columbian species are the blue-billed curassow, the brown-banded antpitta, the Cauca guan, and the gorgeted wood-quail. The Ecuadorian is the Esmeraldas woodstar. Petitions for all five species have been reviewed by the agency in previous years but have been precluded from listing by higher priority species. The agency first recommended listing for the gorgeted wood-quail and the Cauca guan in 1984.
All five bird species are threatened primarily by destruction of their jungle and forest habitat by illegal clearing for growing crops, including cocoa. When foreign species are listed, the U.S. limits their importation and trade within the U.S. except for controlled breeding programs for species conservation.
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