The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has extended the comment period on a plan to protect critical habitat of the western yellow-billed cuckoo through Jan. 12. There are an estimated 10 breeding pairs of the cuckoos in Colorado and about 500 throughout the West, down from more than 15,000 pairs a century ago.

Courtesy of Mark Dettling, Point Blue Conservation

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has extended the comment period on a plan to protect critical habitat of the western yellow-billed cuckoo through Jan. 12. There are an estimated 10 breeding pairs of the cuckoos in Colorado and about 500 throughout the West, down from more than 15,000 pairs a century ago.

Courtesy of Mark Dettling, Point Blue Conservation

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reopening the public comment period regarding the designation of critical habitat for the western yellow-billed cuckoo.

The period will be open through Jan. 12 for discussion on the proposal to designate as critical habitat 546,335 acres, spread across 60 separate units in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, California, Idaho, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming.

In April, The Denver Post reported that there are about 500 breeding pairs across the West, with 10 in Colorado. One pair may have been spotted along the Piedra River.

The western yellow-billed cuckoos have seen dramatic drops in numbers since the late 19th century.

By 1986-1987, a survey found only 30-33 pairs in the state, and other states in the Southwest have seen comparable declines.