U.S. Fish and Wildlife seeks yellow-billed cuckoo protection

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Interior Department, proposed Thursday the designation of 546,335 acres of streamside habitat as critical to the survival of the yellow-billed cuckoo, a songbird.

The habitat is in nine western states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Critical habitat protection will require any federally funded or permitted projects that could harm the cuckoo’s habitat to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that the habitat is not harmed, the Center for Biological Diversity noted in a news release praising the action.

The center also said it expects the bird’s Endangered Species Act protection to be finalized in October.

The notice was published in the Federal Register Aug. 15, and will be subject to a 60-day comment period.

–The Hagstrom Report