ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR LISTED: 1995

CRITICAL HABITAT: 120,824 acres in Arizona, southern California, southeastern Nevada, New Mexico, and southwestern Utah designated in 2005

RECOVERY PLAN: 2002

RANGE: Breeds in Southern California, Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, southern Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, and possibly northern Baja California and Sonora, Mexico (very rare if present); winters from southern Mexico to northern South America

THREATS: Water projects, urban and agricultural sprawl, livestock grazing, global warming, brown cowbird parasitism, replacement of native habitats by introduced plant species, vegetation clearing, and fire

POPULATION TREND: Prior to its listing as an endangered species in 1995, the southwestern willow flycatcher was declining dramatically throughout its range. Between 1993 and 2005, the number of known territories increased from 140 to 1,214, but much of the increase was due to expanded survey effort. The actual recent population trend is not known.

Photo by Suzanne Langridge, USGS