The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put the saltmarsh sparrow on the Endangered Species list.
The Center's Stephanie Kurose said the saltmarsh sparrow only breeds in salt marshes in the Northeast, and has been in rapid decline since the late 1990s.
"We've lost 87% of the population during that time," she said. "The main threat to these birds is sea level rise, but also coastal development."
The Fish and Wildlife Service is already reviewing the status of the saltmarsh sparrow. But Kurose said she hopes the petition will speed up the process.
