The Guam rail was extinct in the wild for nearly 40 years. Now it's back.

By Sarah Lazarus, CNN

Updated 1241 GMT (2041 HKT) December 19, 2019

There was good news for 10 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list of threatened species in 2019. Eight birds and two fish, including the Guam rail, had their status "downgraded," which means they are less at risk of extinction than they were two years ago.
Photos: 2019 brings good news for some endangered species
There was good news for 10 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list of threatened species in 2019. Eight birds and two fish, including the Guam rail, had their status "downgraded," which means they are less at risk of extinction than they were two years ago.
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The gorgeous, bright blue, Cerulean warbler, has had its conservation status moved from "vulnerable" to "near threatened." The tiny, insect-eating, songbirds migrate between their breeding grounds in eastern North America and their winter home in the Andes. Between 1970 and 2014, their populations <a href="https://www.partnersinflight.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/pif-continental-plan-final-spread-7-27-16.pdf" target="_blank">declined by 72%</a> due to mining, logging and agricultural expansion. However, their numbers have grown in recent years, thanks to reduced forest loss and replanting projects. <br />
Photos: 2019 brings good news for some endangered species
The gorgeous, bright blue, Cerulean warbler, has had its conservation status moved from "vulnerable" to "near threatened." The tiny, insect-eating, songbirds migrate between their breeding grounds in eastern North America and their winter home in the Andes. Between 1970 and 2014, their populations declined by 72% due to mining, logging and agricultural expansion. However, their numbers have grown in recent years, thanks to reduced forest loss and replanting projects.
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The Echo parakeet lives only on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. Deforestation and hunting sent numbers plummeting to a low of less than 20 birds in the late 1980s, but thanks to an intensive species recovery program, there are now <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/red-list-2019-guam-rail-2nd-bird-species-recover-extinction-wild" target="_blank">more than 750</a> of these grass green birds squawking in Mauritian trees. Its status was changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on the IUCN's 2019 red list.
Photos: 2019 brings good news for some endangered species
The Echo parakeet lives only on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. Deforestation and hunting sent numbers plummeting to a low of less than 20 birds in the late 1980s, but thanks to an intensive species recovery program, there are now more than 750 of these grass green birds squawking in Mauritian trees. Its status was changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on the IUCN's 2019 red list.
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Female Cassin's finches are a fairly standard brown-and-white, but the males are blessed with a rosy pink hue and a striking, bright red, tufty crown. The birds live in evergreen forests between Mexico and Canada, where they feed on pine seeds and the buds of quaking aspen trees. This year the IUCN changed their status from "near threatened" to "least concern," meaning that in terms of extinction risk, Cassin's finch is out of the woods.
Photos: 2019 brings good news for some endangered species
Female Cassin's finches are a fairly standard brown-and-white, but the males are blessed with a rosy pink hue and a striking, bright red, tufty crown. The birds live in evergreen forests between Mexico and Canada, where they feed on pine seeds and the buds of quaking aspen trees. This year the IUCN changed their status from "near threatened" to "least concern," meaning that in terms of extinction risk, Cassin's finch is out of the woods.
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