November 24, 1980 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a petition from the International Council for Bird Preservation to list the Chilean woodstar as an endangered species.
May 12, 1981 – The Service made a positive 90-day finding on the petition.
January 20, 1984 – The Service published a 12-month finding on the 1980 petition determining that the Chilean woodstar warranted listing but that protection was precluded due to other listing priorities.
May 10, 1985 - November 21, 1991 – The Service published five annual notices continuing to find that the species warranted listing but that listing was precluded due to other priorities.
2003 – The Center filed suit against the Service over its delay in publishing proposed listing rules for the Chilean woodstar and 72 other foreign bird species.
May 21, 2004 – The Service published another annual notice continuing to find that the species warranted listing, but that listing was precluded due to other priorities.
April 23, 2007 – The Service published yet another annual notice continuing to find that the species warranted listing — and continuing its failure to actually propose listing the bird as endangered.
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 Fish and Wildlife Service in violation of the Endangered Species Act and ordered the Service to propose a listing rule for the Chilean woodstar by the end of 2008.
July 29, 2008 – The Service published a notice announcing its annual petition findings for foreign species. The agency finally declared that listing was warranted — and not precluded — for the Chilean woodstar.
December 24, 2008 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the Chilean woodstar as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
August 17, 2010 – The Service announced it would protect the Chilean woodstar, Andean flamingo and St. Lucia forest thrush as endangered.