The Oregon Zoo gets creative in effort to recover endangered tropical bird

OPB covers how The Oregon Zoo’s creativity might be helping in the recovery of the Guam Kingfisher:

Sihek (pronounced “SEE-hek”), also known as Guam kingfishers, are brightly colored, long-billed birds endemic to Guam. Zoo scientists have long believed that males couldn’t be housed together without risk of infighting.

But the Oregon Zoo has kept its three males in the same aviary for about two years without incident. It’s a promising finding for zoologists across the U.S. and Guam who are trying to revive the species with limited space.

Sihek were declared extinct in 1988 after invasive snakes in Guam killed most of the birds. Brown tree snakes — native to the Australian coast and its northern archipelagos — took over the island during World War II, likely arriving by cargo ships. They have decimated most of Guam’s native bird species.

Good news for the recovery of the species.