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Shearwater Success: Seabirds Return to Rat-Free Islands

10,000 Birds

After invasive rats had effectively extirpated Manx Shearwaters from two of the Isles of Scilly—British islands off the southwestern coast of Cornwall—Prince Charles and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) sprang into action. Score one for the good guys. None had been seen in St. Agnes or Gugh for generations.

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Grallards: New Zealand’s Next Extinction or Newest Species?

10,000 Birds

Unfortunately for the hunters these were already all extinct, and with the introduction of cats, rats, stoats and the like the only upland game bird, the New Zealand Quail , was fast on the way out too. Using ministerial connections he obtained 100 mallard eggs from the US and began to breed and distribute them. Or so it was assumed.

Species 165
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Angry Birds, What’s Black and White and Hungry All Over, and a Little Something for the Ladies: This Week in Bird News

10,000 Birds

Scientists ponder the feasibility of genetically engineering chickens to lay the eggs of endangered bird species. The law of unintended consequences has tragic effects at a zoo in England, as rat poison ends up killing the Rainbow Lorikeets it was intended to protect. So crazy it just might work?

Penguins 100
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Humboldt Penguins in Chile Face Extinction

Critter News

Invading rats with bodies up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) long have begun eating eggs and chicks, and some experts fear that unless the rats are eradicated, they could tip the Humboldt penguin toward extinction. From the Huffington Post.

Penguins 100
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Inaccessible Island Rail Atlantisia rogersi

10,000 Birds

BirdLife International believes that this might be maximum population the species can reach, as it seems to completely saturate its range. Occasionally the Tristan Thrush Nesocichla eremita will prey upon chicks from the two-egg nest of the Inaccessible Island Rail but this not enough in any way to threaten the species.

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Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction–A Review

10,000 Birds

The story of the cahow, a “Lazurus species” that was thought to be extinct for over 300 years and then discovered to be breeding on a tiny remote island in Bermuda, is part of modern birding legend. A particularly good type of fertilizer, for example, drastically increased the population of crabs, spoiling Bermuda’s golf courses.

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The Gap Between Wildlife and the Animal Rights Movement

10,000 Birds

What’s even more frustrating is when animal rights people learn of plans to cull nonnative species. Navy wiped out every single rat on Midway Atoll, seabirds flourished afterwards. The number of bird lives saved as a result of the rat removal operation can easily be estimated to be into the millions by now.