Submitted Photo The least tern was officially removed from the endangered species list February 12th. The shorebird found in North Dakota has rebounded from extremely low numbers a few years ago.

It took some special care and 35 years of federal protection, but the least tern was “delisted” February 12 – officially removed from the endangered species list. The population of the small shorebird has risen in North Dakota from six nests recorded in 2004 to more than 200 in 2017.

“It goes to show you collaboration and hard work of many agencies and cooperation of the public that success stories are possible. It’s been great,” said Scott Sterling, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers natural resource specialist in Bismarck.

High water in 2018 and 2019, then the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, curtailed monitoring of least terns in the state. However, in 2017, 197 least terns were counted on the Missouri River below Lake Sakakawea and another 23 along the shores of Lake Sakakawea.

Those numbers show a remarkable comeback for least terns, which relishes sandbar habitat for nesting. The bird was first identified by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. Loss of sandbar habitat alone near the Iowa-Nebraska border shrunk from 35,000 acres in 1890 to just 57 by 1976.

The Corps’ management plan for the Missouri River the past several years has included protection of least tern habitat.

“Water levels are huge,” said Sterling. “The mainstem of the Missouri River is controlled for seven authorized purposes.”

The delisting doesn’t mean the least tern will be forgotten.

“There will still be some conservation practices for the least tern,” said Sterling. “We need to make sure the species continues to recover.”

Least terns fall under the Migratory Species Act, meaning the primary agency for monitoring their status is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The majority of least terns nest along rivers in the Great Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley and migrate to the Caribbean and South America for the winter.

At the time they were listed as endangered in 1985, the entire least tern population was believed to be about 2,000 birds with only a few dozen known nesting sites. Another North Dakota resident, the piping plover, has avoided the endanged designation but remains on the “threatened” list. It’s presence along the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea will continue to be monitored by the Corps.