An NC bird has been declared extinct. Here’s where it was in the state

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared 21 bird species extinct last week, including a migratory songbird that spent significant time in North Carolina.

The Bachman’s Warbler — which the Birds of North Carolina website called the “rarest of all the warblers” — had breeding grounds in North Carolina, according to online maps by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

A Carolina bird through and through, it was named after the South Carolinian minister John Bachman (pronounced “BACK-man”), per Cornell. He was a friend of the famous naturalist John James Audubon.

The last confirmed sightings of the bird were all near Charleston in the early 1960s, according to Cornell.

Here’s what to know about the warbler and other birds recently declared extinct.

Where was the Bachman’s Warbler in the Carolinas?

The Bachman’s Warbler would breed in both North and South Carolina, mostly along the coast, according to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

• In North Carolina, the bird covered southern counties like Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender and Onslow, along with some northeastern counties like Gates, Hertford, Martin and Beaufort.

• In South Carolina, the bird’s range was the entire coast, though it would also cover the southern tip of the state.

The Bachman’s Warbler’s breeding map stretched as west as eastern Texas and as north as Indiana and Ohio. The bird also bred on the Virginia coast.

For a map, visit birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bacwar/cur/introduction.

What does the Bachman’s Warbler look like?

• Male: Bright yellow belly with a black patch on the low throat and chest. Yellow-gray crown atop its head. White spots on its tail.

• Female: Plumage might be similar to the male’s, though paler. Yellow belly with an olive-colored low throat and chest, as well as olive-yellow underparts.

For more, visit ebird.org/species/bacwar.

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Which birds are now declared extinct?

FWS delisted 21 species from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction.

The act, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is intended to be a “safety net that stops the journey toward extinction,” providing a framework to protect threatened species and their habitats, said service director Martha Williams in the FWS’ press release.

Most of the species were listed under the act in the 1970s and 80s, and they were already in very low numbers. Some were even likely extinct at the time of listing, the release said.

Species included one mammal, 10 birds, two fish and eight mussels.

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Along with the Bachman’s Warbler, the other now extinct species were found in Guam and Hawaii. They are:

• Bridled white-eye

• Kauai akialoa

• Kauai nukupuu

• Kauaʻi ʻōʻō

• Large Kauai thrush

• Maui ākepa

• Maui nukupuʻu

• Molokai creeper

• Po`ouli

“Federal protection came too late to reverse these species’ decline, and it’s a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it’s too late,” Williams said.

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