The Hawaii Audubon Society is opposed to a proposal that could take the Hawaiian hawk off the endangered species list.
"There are a number of issues that don’t seem to support delisting the Hawaiian hawk," said Lance Tanino, a member of the Hawaii Audubon Society’s board of directors.
Among the top concerns is that the hawk, or io, now lives only on Hawaii island and in habitat areas where there is urban growth and an increase in non-native species.
Another board member, Don Drake, said the society would like to see the hawk established on multiple islands before removing it from the list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in February that it was reopening an invitation to present comments on possibly taking the Hawaiian hawk off the federal endangered species list — a proposal initially made by the agency in 2008.
At that time, agency budget constraints helped push the proposed delisting to the back of the agency’s priorities, and no action was taken.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Ken Foote said other issues, such as developing a captive breeding program for endangered forest birds like the palila, a type of honeycreeper, were considered more pressing.
"It’s been so long since we addressed it, we have to reopen it," Foote said of the proposal. "We do not have a position at this point. We’re just gathering information."
The agency’s options, Foote said, include retaining the bird’s current status, taking it off the list or reclassifying it as a threatened species.
Regardless of listing, federal law will continue to prohibit taking, killing, selling or harming the hawk under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
When the hawk was put on the endangered species list in 1967, its numbers were estimated in the hundreds.
Jay Nelson, a biologist with the agency, said the estimate might have been low. Scientists now figure the Hawaiian hawk population is stable at about 3,000.
Nelson said that in the 1800s the birds were seen on Molokai, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island.
The agency said it is accepting new comments and that all the old comments, tied to the 2008 proposal, will be included in the current review.
In addition, the agency is also reviewing a draft plan to monitor the Hawaiian hawk if it is delisted.
