Puerto Rican parrot threatened by more intense, climate-driven hurricanes

There were 56 wild, endangered Puerto Rican parrots living around El Yunque National Forest before Hurricane Maria in 2017. After the storm, there was only one survivor.  Wood thrushes, found across the eastern U.S.; 60% of them are gone.   Baltimore orioles, also an eastern bird; two-fifths have been lost.  Western meadowlarks, prevalent in the central and western U.S.; three-fourths have disappeared. 

"I'll admit that a couple of times I just cried," said Tom White, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who's been working for 30 years to re-establish a wild Puerto Rican parrot population at El Yunque.  

The parrot is one of the most critically endangered birds in the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.