Update and Revision of Delaware's SGCN List

As part of the federal requirement to address conservation of the broad array of wildlife in Delaware, 688 species and subspecies were identified as SGCN during the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan Revision. Beginning in April of 2023, the criteria and SGCN list were reevaluated, resulting in a list of 1019 species, subspecies, and varieties of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates with the new addition of plants.

Summary of SGCN List Changes since 2015

This revision benefited from the availability of more recent and complete data for many of Delaware’s wildlife species. The 2025 DEWAP process applied recent national guidance as well as regional criteria for SGCN selection and ranking. These important updates were used to assess the status of the full array of Delaware’s wildlife species, including reevaluating the status of each of the 2015 SGCN. The 2025 list development applied the criteria from the 2015 process of SGCN selection and ranking criteria, followed by an inclusive screening by species experts and partners.

Overall, the 2025 SGCN list of 1,019 species reflects a comprehensive approach to identifying of species of conservation concern across many taxa, including many representatives of historically underrepresented taxonomic groups.

Additions Since 2015

The process resulted in the addition of 352 taxa to the tiered SGCN list and 26 Assessment Priority species. These additions are the result of several factors. The primary driver is the inclusion of plants in the 2025 DEWAP, and the addition of Assessment Priority species is in part due to the need to evaluate breeding status for many species. As plants are new to the 2025 DEWAP, and due to the considerable length of the list, please refer to the DEWAP Database to review the list of Plants. The below table outlines only the animal species added in 2025, as all plants are new to the list.

Taxa	Scientific Name	Common Name	Tier 2025
Birds	Dendrocygna autumnalis	Black-bellied Whistling-duck	Assessment Priority
Birds	Spatula clypeata	Northern Shoveler	Assessment Priority
Birds	Mareca strepera	Gadwall	Assessment Priority
Birds	Fulica americana	American Coot	Assessment Priority
Birds	Antigone canadensis	Sandhill Crane	Assessment Priority
Birds	Limnodromus scolopaceus	Long-billed Dowitcher	Tier 2
Birds	Stercorarius pomarinus	Pomarine Jaeger	Tier 3
Birds	Stercorarius parasiticus	Parasitic Jaeger	Tier 3
Birds	Corvus corax	Common Raven	Assessment Priority
Birds	Setophaga striata	Blackpoll Warbler	Tier 2
Birds	Quiscalus quiscula	Common Grackle	Tier 2
Birds	Eudocimus albus	White Ibis	Assessment Priority
Mammals	Sorex cinereus	Masked Shrew	Assessment Priority
Mammals	Oryzomys palustris	Marsh Rice Rat	Assessment Priority
Mammals	Zapus hudsonius	Meadow Jumping Mouse	Assessment Priority
Mammals	Urocyon cinereoargenteus	Gray Fox	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Pyractomena angulata		Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Pyractomena lucifera	Marsh Imp Firefly	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Hadromyia aepalius	Sterling Quicksilver	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Cicindela tranquebarica		Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Cicindela repanda		Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Staphylus hayhurstii	Hayhurst’s Scallopwing	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Poanes aaroni	Aaron’s Skipper	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Bombus citrinus	Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Nomia nortoni		Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Photuris versicolor		Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Cicindela rufiventris rufiventris	Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetle	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Bombus fervidus	Yellow Bumble Bee	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Sphinx drupiferarum	Wild Cherry Sphinx	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Cicindela abdominalis	Eastern Pinebarrens Tiger Beetle	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Hemaris gracilis	Slender Clearwing	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Anasimyia distinctus	Short-spurred Swamp Fly	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Nomia maneei	Pearly-banded Bee	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Photuris mcavoyi		Tier 1
Invertebrates	Amblyscirtes aesculapius	Lace-winged Roadside-skipper	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Amblyscirtes carolina	Carolina Roadside-skipper	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Photinus consimilis		Tier 2
Invertebrates	Trachusa dorsalis		Tier 2
Invertebrates	Protandrena abdominalis		Tier 2
Invertebrates	Enallagma doubledayi	Atlantic Bluet	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Satyrium liparops	Striped Hairstreak	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Boloria selene	Silver-bordered Fritillary	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Sympetrum internum	Cherry-faced Meadowhawk	Tier 3
Invertebrates	Drasteria graphica atlantica	Atlantic Graphic Moth	Tier 3
Invertebrates	Osmia chalybea		Tier 3
Invertebrates	Lasioglossum georgeickworti	George Eickwort’s Sweat Bee	Assessment Priority
Invertebrates	Colletes ciliates	A Cellophane Bee	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Nomada placida	Placid Cuckoo Nomad Bee	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Colletes solidaginis	Goldenrod Plasterer Bee	Tier 3
Invertebrates	Melissodes apicatus	Pickerelweed Longhorn Bee	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Hylaeus floridanus	A Yellow Masked Bee	Tier 2
Invertebrates	Andrena ziziae	Golden Alexanders Miner Bee	Tier 3
Invertebrates	Pyractomena palustris	Marsh Diver Firefly	Assessment Priority
Reptiles and Amphibians	Kinosternon baurii	Striped Mud Turtle	Assessment Priority
Reptiles and Amphibians	Glyptemys insculpta	Wood Turtle	Tier 1
Invertebrates	Mytilis edulis	Blue Mussel	Tier 3
Fishes	Dipturus laevis	Barndoor skate	Tier 2
Fishes	Amblyraja radiata	Thorny skate	Tier 1
Fishes	Hippocampus erectus	Lined seahorse	Tier 1
Fishes	Malacoraja senta	Smooth Skate	Tier 1

Removals since 2015

Sixty species included as SGCN in the 2015 DEWAP did not meet the 2025 SGCN inclusion criteria, and thus were removed from the Draft SGCN list. The primary reason for change was rank changes when Subnational (S Ranks) were revised, and a more refined Northeast Regional Species of Greatest Conservation need list led to fewer species meeting the criteria of being an RSGCN.

Taxa	Scientific Name	Common Name
Invertebrates	Photuris hebes	A Firefly
Invertebrates	Brachymesia gravida	Four-spotted Pennant
Invertebrates	Enallagma basidens	Double-striped Bluet
Invertebrates	Stylurus plagiatus	Russet-tipped Clubtail
Invertebrates	Libellula axilena	Bar-winged Skimmer
Invertebrates	Progomphus obscurus	Common Sanddragon
Invertebrates	Somatochlora filosa	Fine-lined Emerald
Invertebrates	Somatochlora linearis	Mocha Emerald
Fishes	Cyprinella analostana	Satinfin Shiner
Fishes	Exoglossum maxillingua	Cutlips Minnow
Fishes	Fundulus heteroclitus	Mummichog
Fishes	Fundulus majalis	Striped Killifish
Fishes	Hybognathus regius	Eastern Silvery Minnow
Fishes	Lepomis auritus	Redbreast Sunfish
Fishes	Menidia menidia	Atlantic Silverside
Fishes	Semotilus corporalis	Fallfish
Fishes	Umbra pygmaea	Eastern Mudminnow
Amphibians	Hemidactylium scutatum	Four-toed Salamander
Amphibians	Scaphiopus holbrookii	Eastern Spadefoot
Amphibians	Ambystoma opacum	Marbled Salamander
Amphibians	Anaxyrus fowleri	Fowler’s Toad
Amphibians	Hyla chrysoscelis	Cope’s Gray Treefrog
Amphibians	Notophthalmus viridescens	Eastern Newt
Mammals	Eptesicus fuscus	Big Brown Bat
Birds	Pelecanus occidentalis	Brown Pelican
Birds	Bucephala albeola	Bufflehead
Birds	Buteo lineatus	Red-shouldered Hawk
Birds	Cardellina canadensis	Canada Warbler
Birds	Colaptes auratus	Northern Flicker
Birds	Empidonax virescens	Acadian Flycatcher
Birds	Falco columbarius	Merlin
Birds	Gallinago delicata	Wilson’s Snipe
Birds	Gavia immer	Common Loon
Birds	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Bald Eagle
Birds	Helmitheros vermivorum	Worm-eating Warbler
Birds	Icteria virens	Yellow-breasted Chat
Birds	Myiarchus crinitus	Great Crested Flycatcher
Birds	Onychoprion anaethetus	Bridled Tern
Birds	Parkesia motacilla	Louisiana Waterthrush
Birds	Passerella iliaca	Fox Sparrow
Birds	Pelagodroma marina	White-faced Storm-petrel
Birds	Pipilo erythrophthalmus	Eastern Towhee
Birds	Piranga rubra	Summer Tanager
Birds	Protonotaria citrea	Prothonotary Warbler
Birds	Ardenna gravis	Great Shearwater
Birds	Puffinus lherminieri	Audubon’s Shearwater
Birds	Setophaga caerulescens	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Birds	Setophaga castanea	Bay-breasted Warbler
Birds	Setophaga fusca	Blackburnian Warbler
Birds	Setophaga tigrina	Cape May Warbler
Birds	Setophaga virens	Black-throated Green Warbler
Birds	Spizella pusilla	Field Sparrow
Birds	Toxostoma rufum	Brown Thrasher
Birds	Tyrannus tyrannus	Eastern Kingbird
Birds	Uria lomvia	Thick-billed Murre
Reptiles	Heterodon platirhinos	Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Reptiles	Opheodrys aestivus	Rough Greensnake
Reptiles	Coluber constrictor	Northern Black Racer
Reptiles	Diadophis punctatus	Ring-necked Snake
Reptiles	Storeria dekayi	Dekay’s Brownsnake

SGCN Selection Process

A multistep system was used to generate and evaluate species for SGCN status. The data sources below were used in conjunction with criteria to generate the draft list via a database query process. This list was then screened using the decision framework.

Data Source	Date of Data Used
Delaware Elements List from Biotics Database	2023
Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) List for the Northeast States	2023
Delaware Endangered Species List	2025
Federal Endangered, Threatened, Candidate Species	2025
IUCN Red List	2023
Northeast Odonate Conservation Status Assessment	2014
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Managed Species	2025
NOAA NMFS Species of Concern	2025
NEPARC Northeast Amphibian and Reptile Species of Regional Responsibility and Conservation Concern	2010
Partners in Flight Databases	2016
Breeding Bird Survey Trends	2023
State of the Birds Report 2025	2025
Xerces Society Red List of Aquatic Invertebrates	n.d.
Xerces Society Red List of Bees	n.d.
Xerces Society Red List of Butterflies and Moths	n.d.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Species of Conservation Concern	2018

SGCN Criteria for the 2025 Delaware Wildlife Action Plan

Species were considered a candidate for SGCN status if theyoccur in DelawareAND they met any one of the following criteria:

Federally Endangered, Threatened, or Candidate status
State Legal Status of Endangered
Global Rank (G-Rank) of G3 or higher, or any combination rank that includes G3
Subnational Rank (S-Rank) of S2 or higher, SH, or SX for Breeding, Nonbreeding or Both
Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) for the Northeast
IUCN Red List Status of Near Threatened or higher
Taxon-specific Conservation Concern. Included at the following levels on the following taxon-specific plans:
- Fishes and Marine Invertebrates:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NMFS Species of Concern (NOAA 2010),American Fisheries Society (2001) Marine, Estuarine, and Diadromous Fish Stocks at Risk of Extinction in North America (Exclusive of Pacific Salmonids),American Fisheries Society (2008) List of imperiled North American freshwater and diadromous fishes, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Managed Species
- Reptiles & Amphibians: NEPARC (2010) Northeast Amphibian and Reptile Species of Regional Responsibility and Conservation Concern
- Odonates: White, et al. (2014) A conservation status assessment of Odonata for the northeastern United States. New York Natural Heritage Program, Albany, NY.
Endemic, Near Endemic, or Disjunct. Species which, according to the best available data are endemic or near-endemic to the Delmarva Peninsula, or whose Delaware populations are widely disjunct: 200+ miles from the species main range of distribution.
Scientific Data and Expert Consensus: Taxa that do not meet other SGCN criteria that can be demonstrated by scientific evidence or expert consensus to have at least a moderate risk of significant decline in the future, or that have especially significant Delaware populations. This may include taxa that are data deficient, have demonstrated population declines, rarity or limited habitat requirements, need direct species management in order to persist, have at-risk populations, or are likely to be significantly negatively impacted by climate change or other specific and imminent threats.
Were listed as SGCN in the 2015 Delaware Wildlife Action Plan

SGCN Prioritization Methods

Once we had our list of candidates for the 2025 SGCN list, we began the prioritization process. Starting in 2015, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) identified the need for greater prioritization of SGCN in the Best Practices for State Wildlife Action Plans and the Northeast Regional Lexicon advanced this by providing consistent terminology and process recommendations. In 2015, the DEWAP took that a step further by applying these criteria and customizing it to Delaware and its conservation partners who were included in the prioritization process. We used a similar process to our 2015 process in revising the DEWAP for 2025.

Once the SGCN list was updated using the selection criteria described above, taxonomic experts for each group were again asked to review the SGCN list for their taxa and provide data on regional and state level responsibility and concern for each species. The answers to these evaluations were used, along with S-ranks, G-ranks, and other available information to group SGCN into Tiers.

Data Gaps and Uncertainty

For many species, reliable data may not be available. In some cases, particularly with invertebrates, some or all aspects of basic life history may be unknown. In dealing with data deficiencies, gaps, and complete unknowns, the DEWAP process endeavors to use expert opinion based on the current scientific literature and our understanding of the taxon, use information and data from related taxa.

Tier Definitions and Criteria

Each SGCN was assigned a status rank or tier, which denotes the degree of conservation need for that species. The 2025 Tier system is similar to the 2015 system. For plants, we used a more limited version of the animal set of criteria to identify SGCN, only using the Federal Listing status, G-Ranks, and S-Rank portion of the criterion.

TIER 1

Tier 1 species are in the highest need of conservation action. These include the rarest species in the state, species that are highly globally imperiled, and species with regionally important Delaware populations that are also under high threat from climate change.

A species was assigned to Tier 1 if it met one or more of the following criteria:

Federally Listed Species (USFWS, NOAA NMFS) (regardless of rank), or;
State Endangered Species (regardless of rank), or;
Rounded Global Rank of G1, G2, or G3, or;
State Rank of S1 (rounded S rank) or S1B*, and rounded Global Rank of G4; or
IUCN Status of Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN) or Critically Endangered (CR), or;
Northeast Odonate Conservation Assessment Primary Responsibility, R3 and Higher Concern, or;
High SLR or Climate Change Concern AND High Delaware Responsibility, or;
Delaware or Delmarva Population Endemic or Disjunct.

TIER 2

Tier 2 species are of moderate conservation concern in Delaware. These include species that have rare to uncommon breeding populations in the state, species with broad distributions that are threatened by climate change, and species for which Delaware has high responsibility within the Northeast region.

A species not already assigned to Tier 1 was assigned to Tier 2 if it met one or more of the following criteria:

State Rank of S1 or S2 (rounded S rank), S1B or S2B;
IUCN Status of Near Threatened (NT or LR/NT) or Data Deficient (DD), or;
RSGCN Northeast Regional Responsibility > 50% AND High or Very High Concern, or;
Northeast Odonate Conservation Assessment Significant Responsibility, R3 and Higher Concern, or;
High SLR or Climate Change Concern, or;
High Delaware Responsibility.

TIER 3

These species are for the most part still relatively common in Delaware, but are listed as SGCN for various reasons, including documented population declines, high responsibility of the Northeast region for the global population, highly valuable to wildlife or ecosystem function, emerging threats, or continued need for monitoring and/or management. This tier also includes non-breeding species that are uncommon in Delaware.

All remaining Species of Greatest Conservation Need that did not meet one or more of the criteria for Tier 1 or Tier 2 were assigned to Tier 3.

Assessment Priority

These are species in need of monitoring efforts to determine their conservation status in Delaware and include species that qualified as an SGCN but were not already categorized as a Tiered species.

Extirpated

These species once occurred in Delaware but have been determined through extensive survey effort to no longer occur in the state. Any extirpated species included as SGCN has some possibility of reintroduction (i.e., suitable habitat may occur in the state and potential source populations may exist). This includes all SGCN with a State Rank of SX.

The Final 2025 SGCN List

Taxa teams were convened to evaluate each major taxa considered for the 2025 Delaware Wildlife Action Plan. We began the process by updating Delaware Subnational Ranks in early 2023. Once S-Ranks were updated, the database query process generated an initial list of taxa for consideration. Additional taxa that were not picked up by the initial database query were added to the draft list based on Criteria 8 or 9. Some of these taxa are newly recognized species or species newly found in Delaware that will likely meet State Rank Criteria once they are officially ranked. Several native bee species are not yet S-Ranked, but are globally or regionally rare and were added on the basis of range-wide declines and recent discoveries in Delaware. A handful of other species were added based on anticipated S-Rank changes to be updated during the course of the WAP process.

Taxa teams were re-convened in late 2023 to review the list generated that met criteria. After screening and applying the decision framework to remove several accidental and extralimital taxa, the final SGCN list contains 1019 taxa.

Update and Revision of Delaware’s SGCN List