Action timeline

May 6, 1991 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a petition from the International Council for Bird Preservation to put the Andean flamingo on the federal endangered species list.

December 16, 1991 – The Service made a positive 90-day finding on the May 1991 petition.

March 28, 1994 – The Service published a 12-month finding on the 1991 petition, determining that the Andean flamingo warranted protection but that its listing was precluded by other listing priorities. 

2003 – The Center sued the Service over its delay in issuing proposed listing rules for 73 rare foreign birds in need of protection, including the Andean flamingo.

May 21, 2004 – The Service published another annual notice continuing to find that the species warranted listing but protection was precluded due to other priorities.

April 23, 2007 – The Service published yet another annual notice continuing to find that the species warranted listing but protection was precluded.
 
January 23, 2008 – As a result of the lawsuit brought by the Center, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found the Service in violation of the Endangered Species Act in its failure to move forward in protecting the Andean flamingo. The court ordered the Service to propose a listing rule for the bird by the end of 2008.

July 29, 2008 – The Service published a notice announcing its annual petition findings for foreign species, declaring that listing was warranted for the Andean flamingo.

December 8, 2008 – The Service proposed to list the Andean flamingo as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.