Extinct-In-The-Wild Guam Kingfisher Readying For Release On Remote Pacific Island

The Guam kingfisher has been extinct in the wild for almost 40 years but thanks to an intense international conservation effort, this species is now poised on the brink of being released back into the wild.

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A captive-bred Guam kingfisher, or Sihek (Todiramphus cinnamominus), prepares for release into the wild. (Image courtesy of the Zoological Society of London.)

Exciting news, my friends, especially for those of us who have been eagerly following the progress of the extinct-in-the-wild Guam kingfisher! Nine of these handsome sapphire-and-cinnamon-plumaged birds just arrived on their forever home on a remote Pacific island, Palmyra Atoll. This coral atoll is part of the Northern Line Islands and is located 1,000 miles due south of Hawai’i.

Palmyra Atoll was chosen as the home for Sihek because it’s free of snakes, rats, and other predators and fully protected. Not only is Palmyra Atoll a US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge, but it is further protected — out to 50 nautical miles — by the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, making it the largest stretch of ocean and islands protected under a single jurisdiction in the world. In addition to the USFWS, The Nature Conservancy maintains a preserve and research station within the refuge.