As President Donald Trump and his administration continue to face disappointments in their legal drive to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in several key states, they want to make sure they make some drastic changes before leaving the White House. Keeping in line with that, the president's administration moved forward Friday on gutting long-standing federal protections for nearly 1,000 species of birds in America.

The Trump administration paid no heed to objections from several scientists and former federal officials who warned billions of more birds would vanish as a result. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shared its views on the proposed removal in the Federal Register, carrying out its final step that implies the change could be made official within thirty days.

The wildlife service pointed out in its findings that reversing the rule would come with a negative effect on several bird species that are protected under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which encompasses a wide range of birds, including seabirds, eagles, sparrows, songbirds, storks and more.

The move restricts federal prosecution authority for the threats migratory birds face from the industry. These include electrocution on power lines, wind turbines that knock these birds off from the air, as well as oil field waste pits that kill landing birds due to the toxic water, according to ABC News.

According to recent studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, industry operations kill about 450 million to 1.1 billion birds every year, out of nearly 7 billion birds in North America. The Trump administration argues that the Act should apply specifically to birds that are intentionally killed or harmed and is putting that change into regulation.

The act was originally passed to restrict the killing of migratory birds, per Friday’s report. In its report, the While the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the proposed change is necessary to enhance efficiency and consistency in the implementation of the MBTA (1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act) prohibitions across the United States and inform government agencies, businesses, and the public what is and what isn't restricted under the MBTA, The Hill reported.

The Trump administration continued to push the migratory bird regulation, despite a federal judge in New York rejecting the administration’s legal rationale back in Aug. Federal officials forwarded the bird treaty changes to the White House just two days after news organizations announced Trump's defeat by Joe Biden. This is widely seen as one of their concluding steps before adoption.