birds that have been are being rescued by captive breeding

Daktari JG

Daktari JG

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Trying to think of all the birds that have been saved or being saved via captive breeding.
Those that I can think of off hand, and picking your collective brains for more:
Whooping crane
California condor
Guam rail
Guam Kingfisher
Puerto Rican Parrot
Crested Ibis
Northern bald ibis
Socorro Dove
Madagascar pochard
Spix macaw
Peregrine falcon
Attwater's prairie chicken
Bali mynah
Pink Pigeon
Mauritius kestrel
Echo parakeet
Blue crowned laughing thrush
Blue wattled Crow
Takahē
Hawaiian crow
Kauai thrush
Nene goose


I'm sure there are more
 
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Daktari JG said:
Trying to think of all the birds that have been saved or being saved via captive breeding.
Those that I can think of off hand, and picking your collective brains for more:
Whooping crane
California condor
Guam rail
Guam Kingfisher
Puerto Rican Parrot
Crested Ibis
Northern bald ibis
Socorro Dove
Madagascar pochard
Spix macaw
Peregrine falcon
Attwater's prairie chicken
Bali mynah
Pink Pigeon
Mauritius kestrel
Echo parakeet
Blue crowned laughing thrush
Blue wattled Crow
Takahē
Hawaiian crow
Kauai thrush
Nene goose


I'm sure there are more
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There are some rather suspect inclusions in that list.

Crested Ibis (assuming you mean the Chinese species rather than Madagascan) was predominantly a recovery of a wild population once it was protected.

Captive breeding has been part of the conservation of Takahe but certainly not a "saved by captive breeding" situation - there has always been a wild population which is protected through predator control and from which translocations have been made to other areas..

Captive breeding had little to do with recovery of North Island Kokako (presumably the species you mean by "Blue wattled crow") - they have been bred in captivity and captive-bred birds have been released to wild locations, but the conservation mostly involves predator control and translocations of wild birds to new locations.

I'm guessing Peregrine Falcon is a relatively local situation (North America?).
 
Chlidonias said:
I'm guessing Peregrine Falcon is a relatively local situation (North America?).
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Yes. Peregrine falcons and many other North American birds of prey were in a sticky situation due to biomagnification by DDT making eggshells more vulnerable to damage. I would be surprised if a case of biomagnification never happened in other continents.
 
Chlidonias said:
I'm guessing Peregrine Falcon is a relatively local situation (North America?).
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They are also considered threatened in Japan, subspecies F.p.japonicus.

Adding on to the list (Japanese species cuz I'm biased):

Red Crowned Crane
Okinawa Rail
Oriental Stork
Black Faced Spoonbill
Rock Ptarmigan (Japanese Local Subspecies so idk if it counts)
Short Tailed Albatross
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
They are also considered threatened in Japan, subspecies F.p.japonicus.

Adding on to the list (Japanese species cuz I'm biased):

Red Crowned Crane
Okinawa Rail
Oriental Stork
Black Faced Spoonbill
Rock Ptarmigan (Japanese Local Subspecies so idk if it counts)
Short Tailed Albatross
Click to expand...
I am shocked to learn Rock Ptarmigan is found in Japan. And not in Hokkaido!
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
They are also considered threatened in Japan, subspecies F.p.japonicus.

Adding on to the list (Japanese species cuz I'm biased):

Red Crowned Crane
Okinawa Rail
Oriental Stork
Black Faced Spoonbill
Rock Ptarmigan (Japanese Local Subspecies so idk if it counts)
Short Tailed Albatross
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How have any of these been "rescued by captive breeding"?
 
Daktari JG said:
Peregrine falcon
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Chlidonias said:
I'm guessing Peregrine Falcon is a relatively local situation (North America?).
Click to expand...

PossumRoach said:
Yes. Peregrine falcons and many other North American birds of prey were in a sticky situation due to biomagnification by DDT making eggshells more vulnerable to damage. I would be surprised if a case of biomagnification never happened in other continents.
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Here it is important to note the difference in saving particular (meta-)populations and whole species. Peregrines, having an almost cosmopolitan distribution, where not wholly saved by captive breeding. In fact, while it is true that supplementation of captive birds has occurred in Europe, populations here are generally considered to have rebounded mostly on their own after the prohibition of DDT and related pesticides. Bio-accumulation of pesticides has had dramatic effects on practically all raptors: populations dwindled, densities plummeted and ranges of more vulnerable species contracted. However, roughly in order, sparrowhawk, kestrel, buzzard, goshawk and eventually white-tailed eagle recovered in much of their range without widespread reintroduction. While supplementation is known for peregrine (as well as very locally for the eagle), it is likely their populations too expanded mostly on their own.

It also remains important to see captive breeding as but one piece of the puzzle. North American peregrines might not have been around (at least in current numbers) without captive breeding, but had pesticide use not been restricted no captive-breeding effort could ever have saved them.
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
They are also considered threatened in Japan, subspecies F.p.japonicus.

Adding on to the list (Japanese species cuz I'm biased):

Red Crowned Crane
Okinawa Rail
Oriental Stork
Black Faced Spoonbill
Rock Ptarmigan (Japanese Local Subspecies so idk if it counts)
Short Tailed Albatross
Click to expand...
Nobody, but nobody, is breeding any albatross species…..
 
birdsandbats said:
I am shocked to learn Rock Ptarmigan is found in Japan. And not in Hokkaido!
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In Hokkaido, they are replaced by the Hazel grouse.

Chlidonias said:
How have any of these been "rescued by captive breeding"?
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Red Crowned Crane populations have been restored due to captive breeding in various institutes around Japan.

Oriental Stork has been reintroduced in various regions due to captive breeding.

Okinawa rail are being bred in Breeding facilities, and released. We have seen a rise in rail populations recently.

Black Faced Spoonbills are also being bred across JAZA zoos, and are taken part in conservation programs where they are released.

FBBird said:
Nobody, but nobody, is breeding any albatross species…..
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Im sorry, I confused conservation programs with Captive breeding :oops:
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
Red Crowned Crane populations have been restored due to captive breeding in various institutes around Japan.

Oriental Stork has been reintroduced in various regions due to captive breeding.

Okinawa rail are being bred in Breeding facilities, and released. We have seen a rise in rail populations recently.

Black Faced Spoonbills are also being bred across JAZA zoos, and are taken part in conservation programs where they are released.
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None of these equate to being "saved" by captive breeding. At best it is supplemental. Japanese Cranes, for example, were "saved" by feeding on the wintering grounds - captive breeding had nothing to do with it.
 
"Saved by" is a big claim, and not one often used outside marketing.

The only species that can undisputedly be said to have been "saved" are those that have gone extinct in the wild, for instance the black robin or Guam kingfisher.

Otherwise, if the species is still in the wild, there are going to be a range of conservation activities which contribute to one degree or another. Determining which ones "saved" the species can be difficult or impossible. It is fair to say there are even sometimes attempts to minimize the contribution of captive breeding, either because of professional jealousy, or an ideological opposition to conservation breeding.

This is not always the case. With orange-bellied parrots, of which I am familiar, there is research that shows the recovery of the species has been and will continue to dependent on the release of captive bred birds, especially juveniles. On the other hand, I doubt a population increase would be possible without habitat work, in particular changes to the fire regime in the breeding habitat. But such changes would not have saved the species.
 
There is an interesting discussion to be had about what one considers “captive” breeding. Take the Kakapo; (and please correct me where I am wrong). Few individuals (if any) have been produced from mating, egg-laying, hatching and rearing in a purely captive environment, yet it can be argued that the entire population is now “captive” either on islands or fenced enclosures outside the remnant range.
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
“captive” either on islands or fenced enclosures outside the remnant range.
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I mean I think the only real management here is just health checks and supplemental feedings? Otherwise breeding, foraging and everything else the birds are still doing entirely wild.. Like I'd still consider it quite different from ex-situ fully managed captive breeding for eg. Californian Condors & Spix Macaws
 
The birds that have been saved by captive breeding is debatable since it is hard to define what is meant by saved. Since 1950 it is acknowledged in peer reviewed publications that there are 55 bird species where there is a greater than 25% chance that they have avoided global extinction because of conservation. Of these there are 22 (40%) bird species where captive breeding played a significant role, such as Hawaiian Goose, Whooping Crane, Pink Pigeon, Orange-bellied Parrot, Puerto Rican Parrot. For seven of the 22 they were, or are, Extinct in the Wild, so without captive breeding they would not exist. These are Guam Rail, Alagoas Curassow, Spix Macaw, Guam Kingfisher, Socorro Dove, California Condor and Hawaiian Crow. However, what is interesting is that there are an additional 15 bird species that have been helped by using intensive management techniques, such as artificial incubation of harvested eggs and head-starting chicks, rescuing eggs and young from failing nests, rearing in captivity and then releasing, such as with the Kakapo. These and other egg and brood manipulations on wild pairs have played a big role in the recovery of Takahe, Chatham Island Black Robin, Echo Parakeet and Mauritius Kestrel. Also, many species have been helped with supplemental feeding, nest-boxes and predator exclusion/control. In summary of the 55 species, 37 (67%) were helped by intensive management which includes captive breeding, translocations, egg manipulations and other hands-on techniques many of which come from aviculture.
 
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MRJ said:
The only species that can undisputedly be said to have been "saved" are those that have gone extinct in the wild, for instance the black robin or Guam kingfisher.
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Just as a point of accuracy, Black Robins have never been extinct in the wild and have never been captive-bred.

The last few birds were moved from one island where there was only a remnant forest patch to another island which had more forest, and cross-fostering of eggs to the nests of wild Chatham Island Tomtits was used to maximise chick output.
 
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