The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to remove the Hawaiian hawk from its current listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act because the population is secure and no longer requires federal protection. The Service is seeking public comment on this proposal and at the same time, providing notice of the withdrawal of a previous proposed reclassification of the bird from endangered to threatened status. The notice, published in today's Federal Register, also requests the submission of any information that may be available regarding the status of this species.

Due to implementation of recovery actions and other conservation efforts, the species is now found throughout the island of Hawai'i and has had a stable population for at least 20 years. It is nesting and foraging successfully in both native and altered habitats and has large areas of protected habitat. The Hawaiian hawk is not currently threatened by overutilization, disease, predation, contaminants, lack of adequate regulatory mechanisms, or other factors, and therefore no longer meets the definition of a threatened or endangered species throughout its range. Researchers estimate the total population of Hawaiian hawk to be about 3,000 birds. The Service will consider comments and materials from all interested parties received by October 6, 2008.

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