Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Tiny Bird Likes Big Space

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Sprague's pippet bird, which weighs less than an ounce, thrives in the open prairies of the Northern Great Plains. The prairies are fast disappearing and the pippet will follow if not given protection, environmental action groups say, in a petition before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the tiny bird under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency agreed to begin a year long status review on the Sprague pippet. The little bird eats insects off the prairie floor after the soil has been disrupted, by bison, fire or mowing, and has regrown. Defenders of the bird say that mowing fields late in the harvest season reduces the time pippets have to mate and brood before their food sources are driven underground by winter.

The USFWS is asking for public input regarding the status of the Sprague's pippet including its range, mating habits, migration patterns and population.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...