California has extended emergency endangered species protection to the dwindling tricolored blackbird, which often faces danger as it nests in dairy silage fields in the central part of the state.
The Fresno Bee reports the state Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday approved a 180-day ban on harassing, harming or killing the native birds.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will decide later whether to make the protections permanent.
In the 1930s, the birds numbered around 3 million. But by 2008 the population was down to 395,000. That number has dipped to about 145,000 this year.
They cluster across millions of acres of broad marshlands, vernal pools and creeks in Central California, often nesting in dairy silage fields.
When such a colony is discovered, Audubon California works with the farmer to delay the harvest.
