The Guam kingfisher (''Todiramphus cinnamominus'') is a species of

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

from the

United States Territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. It is restricted to a

captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species tha ...

program following its extinction in the wild due primarily to predation by the introduced

brown tree snake The brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis''), also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi to Papua), Papua New Guinea, and many islands ...

Taxonomy and description

In the indigenous

Chamorro language Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken l ...

, it is referred to as ''sihek''. The mysterious

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Ryūkyū kingfisher, known from a single

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

, is sometimes placed as a subspecies (''T. c. miyakoensis''; Fry ''et al.'' 1992), but was declared invalid by the International Ornithological Congress in 2022, rendering the species

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

. Among-island differences in morphological, behavioral, and ecological characteristics have been determined sufficient that

Micronesian kingfisher Micronesian kingfisher is a common name used to refer to several species of bird of the genus ''Todiramphus ''Todiramphus'' is a genus of kingfishers in the subfamily Halcyoninae. The genus was introduced by the French surgeon and naturalist Ren ...

populations, of which the Guam kingfisher was considered a subspecies, should be split into separate species. This is a brilliantly colored, medium-sized kingfisher, 20–24 cm in length. They have iridescent blue backs and rusty-cinnamon heads. Adult male Guam kingfishers have cinnamon underparts while females and juveniles are white below. They have large laterally-flattened bills and dark legs. The calls of Micronesian kingfishers are generally raspy chattering.

Behavior

Guam kingfishers were

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

forest generalists that tended to be somewhat secretive. The birds nested in cavities excavated from soft-wooded trees and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

termitaria Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

, on Guam. Micronesian kingfishers defended permanent territories as breeding pairs and family groups. Both sexes care for young, and some offspring remain with parents for extended periods. Research suggests that thermal environment has the potential to influence reproduction.

Conservation status

The Guam kingfisher population was

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from its native habitat after the introduction of

s. It was last seen in the wild in 1988, and the birds are now U.S. listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

. The Guam kingfisher persists as a captive population of fewer than two hundred individuals (as of 2017) in US mainland and Guam breeding facilities. However, there are plans to reintroduce the Guam birds to

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii a ...

by 2023, and potentially also back to their native range on Guam if protected areas can be established and the threat of the

s is eliminated or better controlled. Unfortunately, however, three decades of research and management has yielded little hope for safe habitats on Guam.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * *Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. ''The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific''. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ. * *U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2004. ''Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Sihek or Guam Micronesian Kingfisher (Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina)''. *U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1984. ''Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: determination of endangered status for seven birds and two bats on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands''. Federal Register 50 CFR Part 17 49(167), 33881–33885. *U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2004. ''Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Sihek or Guam Micronesian Kingfisher (''Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina'')''. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, OR.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.Micronesian kingfisher

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Al ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Philadelphia Zoo
- Description of Guam Micronesian kingfisher Conservation efforts

- Threatened and Endangered Animals in the Pacific Islands.
US Geological Survey
- USGS Micronesian Avifauna Conservation Projects
US Geological Survey
- The Brown Treesnake on Guam. {{Taxonbar, from=Q204140 Guam kingfisher Birds of Guam Guam kingfisher ESA endangered species