Good news for bird lovers: The American wood stork, a tall wading bird that lives in East Coast swamps, has been declared no longer endangered after 30 years of conservation efforts.
The bird, which inhabits marshy areas from Florida to the Carolinas, has had population growth throughout the Southeast but is still considered a threatened species, Reuters reported.
"It's a day for good news about an iconic bird from the Southeast that is doing a great job of recovering," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, as quoted by the Associated Press.
But even though the wood stork population is recovering, "There's still important work to do before we can propose to remove it from the list altogether," Jewell said.
Wood storks were put on the endangered list in 1984 because their population was decreasing by 5 percent per year. They will stay among threatened species since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's goal of a five-year average of 10,000 nesting pairs hasn't been reached yet.
The birds, which stand about 4 feet tall and have a 5-foot wingspan, are the only stork species in the U.S. that nests, according to the AP. Their numbers are estimated to have fallen from 40,000 adults in the 1930s to around 10,000 in the 1970s.
When it was designated endangered, the wood stork could only be found in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. After conservation efforts to restore wetlands, the bird's habitat has expanded to North Carolina and Mississippi as well.
"One reason we're able to change their status is that the risk has been reduced because their numbers are more spread out," said Billy Brooks, the Fish and Wildlife biologist who heads the wood stork recovery program, as quoted by the AP. "They have improved their productivity by expanding their breeding range."
Almost all animals listed as threatened or endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act have been saved from extinction, and 27 species have been removed from the list following conservation efforts.
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