Arizona's Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoo To Remain Protected

A beloved cuckoo bird won’t go federally unprotected in Arizona.

Experts are celebrating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to keep the western yellow-billed cuckoo under the Endangered Species Act. The Arizona Republic reports the agency ruled against a petition for its removal. The Arizona Game and Fish Department has listed the cuckoo breed as threatened since the late 1980s. In 2014, it was assigned the same designation under the federal Endangered Species Act. Opponents argue there is no difference between the western and eastern cuckoo birds. So, they are not endangered.