Delisting the Black-capped Vireo

Not so long ago the black-capped vireo nearly went extinct. Goats ate their way through this songbird’s habitat and brown-headed cowbirds commandeered their nests. In the late 1980s there were only about 350 birds known to exist, leading to its listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There are now more than 14,000 birds estimated across the vireo’s breeding range of Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the delisting of the black-capped vireo at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. The delisting of the black-capped vireo would not have been possible without the efforts of our partners including the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fort Hood, Fort Sill Army Base, Mexico, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, private landowners and others.