Courtesy Photo A Kirtland’s warbler is seen in this undated photo.

ALPENA — It’s official … a Michigan native is back, and, from all appearances, it’s here to stay.

The Kirtland’s warbler, a cute, yellow-and-gray songbird beloved by many Up Northerners, was near extinction when it was one of the first species in the U.S. to be put on the federal list of endangered and threatened species.

Because of the species’ remarkable recovery — thanks to decades of effort by a variety of Michigan partners — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that the melodious little bird no longer warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Calling the species’ removal from the list a “remarkable wildlife success story,” Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger lauded the efforts of groups who came together to protect and resurrect the habitat of the bird. The story provides dramatic testimony, Eichinger said, of what conservation organizations can accomplish when community and state efforts unite in a common goal.

The Kirtland’s warbler, with one of the smallest breeding ranges of any bird in the continental U.S., was designated as endangered in 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. When the Endangered Species Act passed into law in 1973, northern Michigan’s own Kirtland’s warbler was on the initial list of endangered and threatened species.

The warblers breed almost exclusively in young jack pine forests in northern lower Michigan, including portions of Alcona, Montmorency, and Presque Isle counties, in addition to small portions of Wisconsin and Ontario.

The bird makes its nests on the ground, under protective, low-hanging branches of young jack pine trees. Human efforts to reduce forest fires also inadvertently reduced the number of safe spaces for the birds to lay their eggs, because, without fire, northern forests were not being regenerated into new growth.

To protect the species, land managers learned to mimic natural processes as they harvest and reforest the land, a process aided by private forest owners in local counties.

The DNR, U.S. Forest Service, and conservation groups also pitched in to conserve young jack pine habitat. They also worked to control parasitic brown-headed cowbirds, which threaten Kirtland’s warblers by laying their eggs in warbler’s nests, compelling warbling parents to raise cowbird offspring at the expense of their own.

Up from a low of only 167 pairs in 1974, warbler numbers are estimated to be around 2,300 pairs today, double the goal identified in the species’ recovery plan. The population has exceeded recovery goals for the past 17 years and continues to increase and expand its range, the Fish and Wildlife Service reported in a statement.

“This pretty little songbird’s amazing comeback from the brink of extinction is a testament to the success of the Endangered Species Act,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. “This 45-year-old law is working to save species. Without it, we would have lost the warbler forever.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.