On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Sprague’s pipit no longer meets the definition of a threatened or endangered species and does not require protection under the Endangered Species Act. In Arizona, the species is considered rare but regular winter migrant from mid-October to March.
Sprague’s pipit winters mainly in the grasslands of San Rafael, Sonoita, and Sulphur Springs Valley in southeastern Arizona. A few individual birds have also been found wintering in grass fields along the lower Colorado River from north of Yuma to Parker, and in grass and alfalfa fields near Phoenix and Sierra Vista.
The Sprague’s pipit is a relatively small, brown striped, perching bird that nests in the ground and breeds in the open grasslands of the north-central U.S. This songbird performs the longest known territorial flight display, and migrates to the South for winter.
“In a thorough status review using the best available science and modeling, the Service found that habitat loss from agriculture in the Sprague’s pipit’s key breeding grounds does not pose a significant risk, historic rates of population decline are expected to stabilize, and that the pipit is not as affected as once thought by energy development and connecting roads. Studies also show Sprague’s pipits are more mobile, adaptable and found in more areas than expected,” reads the Service’s press release.
In 2010, the Sprague’s pipit was listed as a candidate species. But this new information shows the above factors do not pose a significant threat to the pipit’s long-term survival, and the Service is withdrawing it from the candidate list.
The finding on the Sprague’s pipit will publish in the Federal Register on April 5, 2016 as Docket Number FWS–R6–ES–2009–0081.