birds that have been are being rescued by captive breeding

[Carl Jones]

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.

Yes, agreed and I made that point that it is not just captive breeding that has been used to conserve species but the use of aviculture skills in the wild. Don Merton took the techniques he used directly from captive breeding.

 

[MRJ]

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.

Thanks. my mistake. I have the book somewhere, but it is years since I read it.

 

[Carl Jones]

There is a continuum from managing a species in captivity all the way through to applying the same aviculture approaches to the species in the wild. It is this interface between the wild and captivity that is so effective.

 

[Carl Jones]

In a previous post I note that there are reviews that give the number of bird that have a greater than 25% chance to have likely avoided extinction through conservation since 1950. Captive breeding has helped the conservation of many of these. The species that have been most help are those that have become extinct in the wild yet still exist in captivity. Some of these have subsequently been reintroduced. There are seven species:
· Guam Rail,
· Alagoas Curassow,
· California Condor,
· Socorro Dove,
· Spix Macaw,
· Guam Kingfisher,
· Hawaiian Crow.
To this list some would add Vietnam Pheasant. This species is still regarded a Critically Endangered in the wild although there are no definitive wild records since 2000 and there are greater than 1,000 in captivity.

Of others on the list where captive breeding and reintroduction have played a significant role there are:
· Red-billed Curassow
· Hawaiian Goose
· Madagascar Pochard
· Campbell Teal
· Pink Pigeon
· Whooping Crane
· Northern Bald Ibis
· Asian Crested Ibis
Black Stilt
· Mauritian Kestrel
· Puerto Rican Parrot
· Malherbe’s Parakeet
· Orange-bellied Parrot
· Echo Parakeet
· Bali Mynah

There are also another group where captive breeding per-se did not play a role although the use of aviculture techniques were widely used to enhance wild populations by clutch and brood manipulations, head-starting and subsequent reintroduction. This list includes:
· Okarito Kiwi
· Short-tailed Albatross
· Magenta Petrel
· Spoon-billed Sandpiper
· Kakapo
· Mariana Crow
· Black Robin
· Mangrove Finch

I have compiled these lists from primary sources and the BirdLife Data Zone.