In Florida, an invasive snail is helping save an endangered bird

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/ [login to see] /endangered-snail-kite-invasive-apple-snail-florida
In Florida's Everglades, few species are more closely tied to the habitat's health than an endangered bird, the snail kite. The Everglade snail kite is a raptor, similar to a hawk, that eats just one thing: snails.

Over the last century, as much of the Everglades was drained, the bird's population declined precipitously. But the kite has bounced back recently thanks to an exotic snail. It's a rare case of an invasive species having a positive impact.

Robert Fletcher, a University of Florida professor who directs a snail kite monitoring program, says the invasive species was first spotted in 2004. Within a few years, it had expanded through much of the Everglades. "And it was around that time," he says, "that we started to see snail kite number increase."