Fight to save the last of the kingfishers

Tuamotu Kingfisher (Credit: Kesler/University of Missouri)

Island bio-geography leads to a wonderful and rich array of wildlife as species take advantage of new niches in which to live. Lack of predators also help to increase the range of species available. But it also brings risks. One kingfisher species on a South Pacific island is down to the last 125 individuals are reducing.

The Tuamotu Kingfisher.

The Tuamotu Kingfisher (Todiramphus gambieri) is a brightly coloured tropical bird. Bright blue feathers, orange head and bright green back can add a flash of colour along the river banks on Niau. Understanding it’s habits is essential if an effective species conservation plan is to be developed and put into action. Since 2002 researchers have been working hard on understanding what makes the bird tick but so far the kingfisher has just continued to decline in numbers.

At this rate, these birds will be gone within our lifetime.

One of the lead researchers, assistant professor in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Dylan Kesler explained, “If we lose these birds, we lose 50,000 years of uniqueness and evolution. Because it has lived in isolation for a very long time, it’s unlike any other bird. There is no other bird like this on the planet.”

New research just published.

The researchers have just published the results of surveys which are hoped will help prevent further losses of the birds. One of the biggest breakthroughs that has occurred is the development of a new way of fitting tracking devices to the kingfishers to allow remote tracking of their flights.

Attaching tracking devices to most bird species can produce unwanted problems. For instance their behaviour is known to be different with tracking devices fitted, they also scratch and injure the bird and birds have also been recorded as being more susceptible to infection when they have tracking devices fitted to them. Kesler developed a new type of transmitter harness which overcame these problems and remained fitted to the birds for up to 2 months before falling away harmlessly from the bird.

The recent published work highlighted a number of specific habitat requirements for the birds that need to be taken into account if any conservation programme is to work. These are;

Hunting perch requirements: the kingfishers prefer perches that are about 5 feet above the ground to allow them to hunt their prey effectively.
Clear ground: the preferred prey of these kingfishers are not fish but lizards. They need to have exposed ground in order to see the prey.
Dead tree: the kingfisher make their nests in dead tree because they find live trees to hard to burrow into.
Reducing introduced predators: rats and cats are a real problem for the kingfishers. Some of the impacts can be reduced by installing metal bands around trees with nests to make it difficult for the predators to climb.

Fortunately some of the requirements above can be meet by educating coconut growers on the island to adjust their plantation management. Clear ground is often produced by coconut farmers who burn brush from their land. controlled burning can open up the ground for the kingfishers. Farmers can also be encouraged not to cut down and remove dead coconut trees to allow sufficient deadwood to be available for habitat.

Establishing new populations of kingfishers.

The dangers to the remaining population is very real. As part of conservation work the researchers are surveying other local islands of French Polynesia in the South Pacific to determine if 1 or 2 rescue populations had be translocated from Niau. If some of the remaining population can be translocated to the Gambier islands, Makatea or Anaa then the risks of a catastrophic event which could wipe out the entire species will be reduced.

An initial trial translocation of birds from one side of Niau to the other was successful and has helped to reduce the risk of a localised event from wiping out the species. Everything is being attempted to try and conserve the kingfisher which is one of the most endangered birds in the world. Despite all the work going on to save this little bird things are not lookng good. As Kesler says, “Unfortunately, even with all our work to date, the population is still crashing. We’re seeing some turnover, but each year when we return, there are more empty territories and the population decreases. At this rate, these birds will be gone within our lifetime.”