Anthrocon 2024

Guam Kingfishers, known locally as Sihek, have been Extinct in the Wild for four decades. They were decimated to the brink of total extinction on the island of Guam by the arrival of an invasive species, the Brown Tree Snake. Had it not been for biologists rescuing the remaining wild population in the late 1980s, bringing them into expert care, Guam Kingfishers might have been officially declared Extinct.
Since this incredible rescue, Guam Kingfisher populations under the expert care of an Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s (AZA) Species Survival Plan® (SSP), have grown considerably, all while maintain genetic diversity. The National Aviary has been part of this program, actively working within the SSP® and the Sihek Recovery Program, to eventually introduce the species to Palmyra Atoll, a Brown Tree Snake-free island located about 6,000 km (3,729 miles) from Guam, on a trial basis.


Sihek Recovery Program
Male Guam Kingfisher
Female Guam Kingfisher
This project, comprised of several Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA)-accredited zoos including the National Aviary, have the long-term goal of releasing and then growing a population in the wild , eventually seeing the Sihek’s International Union for Conservation in Nature (IUCN) status downgraded from “Extinct in the Wild” to “Critically Endangered” – which could make them only the third species ever to do so, behind the California Condor and the Guam Rail. Over the last decade, the National Aviary has hatched 21 Guam Kingfisher chicks in our behind-the-scenes, state of the art Breeding Center, and sent 13 other facilities as part of the Species Survival Program®.
National Aviary Senior Aviculturist Brianna Crane plays a crucial role in this process. In addition to incubating fertile eggs in our Breeding Center that will hopefully hatch and join the program this year, Brianna has personally transported fertile Cincinnati Zoo Guam Kingfisher eggs and a chick to the Sihek Translocation Biosecurity Facility at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas. Every hatching is critical, as these birds holds the potential to be among the first Guam Kingfishers introduced into the wild on Palmyra Atoll. The process of introducing a species back into the wild is extremely intricate and complex, especially with challenges of a species on the brink of extinction.