Hawaiian stilt reclassified from endangered to threatened after 50 years of conservation efforts

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the reclassification of the Aʻeo, or Hawaiian stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni), from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act, a rare and hopeful milestone for a native Hawaiian species. The change, published in the Federal Register alongside a species-specific 4(d) rule, reflects more than 50 years of conservation work that has brought the long-legged waterbird back from the brink. The recovery is documented in a new study led by researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR) and their partners, published in Ornithological Applications.