Plans to re-introduce the Guam kingfisher coming closer to reality : Extinct Guam Kingfisher Provides Blueprint For Reintroducing Other Long-Lost Animals
Wonderful news! Sad to hear that the pandemic has impacted the project financially but encouraging to read that if reintroduced that they will follow the model established by New Zealand with use of (hopefully) invasive free off-shore islands and fenced areas.
Another article about the planned re-introduction : The Guam Kingfisher Could Soon Return to the Wild After a 30-Year Absence
My main concern here would be, if the apparently undescribed Lepidodactylus gecko that's endemic to the atoll has evolved without a lizard-specialist Todiramphus kingfisher feeding on it, surely ecological naivety to such predators would be a very real possibility? Anyone know if there's any evidence Palmyra Atoll once had native kingfishers at all? Second, unrelated note; this planned release will almost certainly not change the species' IUCN red list status of Extinct in the Wild, as there will still be no wild birds within its historical range, until such a time as a reintroduction on Guam is possible.
There's no evidence of a kingfisher native to Palmyra. But I'm sure this not a planned permanent population. At the moments, it's been decades since any Guam Kingfishers have been in the wild - we're not even completely sure how they behaved in the wild or even if the current population is even capable of doing so. Palmyra Atoll is an extremely remote and heavily monitored location that makes a good experimental site for kingfisher reintroduction. After the trials, I'm sure the birds would be removed if it was determined they would cause any harm to either of the native lizard species.
The FWS info page says that the population would be experimental and non-permanent: Sihek Conservation Introduction to Palmyra Atoll | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service However, the question "What sort of impact could this have on the species living on Palmyra Atoll?" is answered with no reference to non-bird species (!) - "We expect the sihek to have minimal impact on the native species living at Palmyra Atoll. There are no forest bird species at Palmyra that sihek would compete with or be or to impacted by predation."
