UK Zoo Helps Hatch Three of World's Rarest Birds–Blue-Eyed Doves–with Only 11 Left in Wild

Columbina cyanopis, or the blue-eyed dove, in the Rolinha do Planalto Natural Reserve – credit, Hector Bottai CC BY-SA 4.0.A UK zoo is celebrating after helping to hatch three of the world’s rarest birds in what could be a breakthrough moment in saving the critically-endangered species from extinction.The trio of blue-eyed ground dove chicks were successfully hand-reared in Brazil, boosting the survival odds of one of the most endangered birds on the planet, only 11 of which are thought to remain in the wild.An international team, including British experts from the Chester Zoo, managed to rear the birds in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the only place they are found.The team, also featuring Brazilian and American conservationists, say their arrival could provide a vital lifeline for the ultra-rare species by boosting their insurance population.The blue-eyed ground dove was a species shrouded in mystery, with no confirmed records for more than 70 years, until its rediscovery in 2015.“It’s a real privilege for Chester Zoo to be involved in the work to help conserve the blue-eyed ground dove,” said Andrew Owen, Chester Zoo’s head of birds.“This unique species is on the brink of extinction and without the dedication and passion of all the conservationists involved, including Chester Zoo’s bird staff, this bird may be lost forever.”“This...
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Rare Bird Moment as Photographer Witnesses Mistle Thrush Feeding Orphaned Blackbird as Her Own

Mistle thrush feeds orphaned blackbird juvenile Credit: Andrew Fusek-Peters via SWNSBirds of a feather usually flock together, but a lucky blackbird was ‘adopted’ by a mistle thrush mama who took the juvenile ‘under her wing’ in a rare case of inter-species feeding.Photographer Andrew Fusek-Peters captured the rare phenomenon in adorable close-up photos that show the female adult thrush diligently feeding her own chicks before offering a worm to a baby blackbird.Andrew watched as the fluffy fledgling ruffled its feathers, waiting its turn before gobbling down the worm from the thrush’s beak.“It’s such a rare thing to see, let alone photograph,” said the 59-year-old who shot the photos in a field in North Shropshire, England, earlier this month.“It is known to happen but it almost never photographed—and I’ve not known of a mistle thrush and a blackbird doing this before.”He believed it was likely the blackbird chick was abandoned by its mother or its mother died leaving it an orphan.“When the chick opens its mouth, it triggers a maternal response in nearby female birds,” he told SWNS news agency.Female Mistle thrush with worm Credit- Andrew Fusek-Peters via SWNS“The blackbird was sitting with its beak open, and the mistle thrush was close by.“It fed its own chick first and then the blackbird.”He searched the internet but couldn’t...
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World’s Oldest Bird Gives Birth to Yet Another Chick–at Nearly 74 Years Old

Wisdom – USFWS / SWNSThe world’s oldest known bird has returned to her home island to hatch yet another chick, at nearly 74 years old.Named Wisdom, the Laysan albatross has been spotted this month caring for her youngster on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean.Like others of her species, Wisdom returns to the same nesting site each year to reunite with her mate and if able, lay one egg.For decades, park officials in the Hawaiian Archipelago observed Wisdom doing this with the same partner (named Akeakamai), but that bird has not been seen for several years, which caused Wisdom to begin courtship dances with other males last year.The spry septuagenarian is estimated to have produced 50-60 eggs in her lifetime, successfully fledging as many as 30 chicks, according to the expert staff at the refuge 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu.Albatross parents share the responsibility of feeding their young by taking turns hunting while the other stays at the nest to watch over the chick.“So when Wisdom returns to the nest (it’s) her partner’s turn to go hunt for squid, fish and crustaceans,” said a statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service–Pacific Region.Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg. They determined her estimated age from that event 69 years ago, because the large...
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Scientists Discover Oldest Bird Fossils, Rewrite History of Avian Evolution

A photograph and interpretive line drawing show the Baminornis zhenghensis fossil – credit: Min WangAccording to a truly field-altering fossilized bird found in China, birds already existed in the Late Jurassic period, approximately 160 million years ago.The new discovery suggests that rather than a linear evolutionary path from dinosaur to bird, these two orders evolved somewhat simultaneously.An artistic representation of the newly discovered species, Baminornis zhenghensis, with the preserved bones highlighted – credit: Zhao Chuang.Baminornis zhenghensis is the world’s oldest species of avid. A holotype fossil was recently found in East China’s Fujian Province and described in the journal Nature. The pelvis, trunk, forelimbs, and part of the hindlimb are all intact.“Baminornis is a landmark discovery and ranks among the most important bird fossils unearthed since the discovery of Archaeopteryx in the early 1860s,” Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist from the University of Edinburgh who was not involved in the study but wrote a commentary accompanying it, tells Xinhua.“This is a groundbreaking discovery. It overturns the previous situation that Archaeopteryx was the only bird found in the Jurassic Period,” Zhonghe Zhou, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-author of the study, tells the Chinese news agency...
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Endangered Thick-Billed Parrot That Once Roamed the US Is on the Way to Recovery

Thick-billed parrots – Credit: OVIS / Ernesto Enkerlin HoeflichA public-private partnership in Mexico just announced that the current population of thick-billed parrots is approximately 2,500 individuals—at least 10% higher than that recorded 12 years ago.The number was determined in a recent population survey in a protected area in the state of Chihuahua, where once upon a time this charismatic species roamed north into the United States.The thick-billed parrot is an emblematic species of the temperate forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental and once occurred in both Arizona and New Mexico.Since 1995, this species, listed in danger of extinction by the Mexican government, has been the subject of numerous studies and actions for protection and management, while the mountain forests on which it depends have been the focus of extensive reforestation.These efforts, led by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) and the civil organization Organización Vida Silvestre (OVIS), along with the participation of local communities and other organizations in the US and Mexico, are yielding encouraging results as demonstrated by the increase in population, a statement from OVIS details.“This emerging success story reflects the importance of collaboration between society and government and a vision of healthy ecosystems and...
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