At a Glance
In nature, stories like the Sihek’s, also called the Guam Kingfisher, are rare. Not every species gets a second chance to survive in the wild. For this stunning cinnamon-and-teal coloured little bird, that’s exactly what happened. The Sihek vanished from the wild after World War II, when the brown tree snake was accidentally introduced to the island of Guam. The snakes preyed heavily on native birds, eggs, and hatchlings, wiping out many of Guam’s bird species in just a few decades. The Sihek and other native bird species had evolved with few natural predators, and had no adaptations to protect them from the invasive snake’s new presence on the island. Unlike many kingfishers that dive into water for fish, these birds spend most of their time hunting insects, lizards, spiders, and small crabs on the forest floor or among tree branches. They depend on healthy forests with old trees or termite nests where they can dig nesting cavities and raise their chicks. Only a very small number of Sihek remains, making the bird one of the rarest of its kind. Today, almost all of them survive in zoos and wildlife centers throughout the United States and Guam, where they are protected against total extinction. Excitingly, in 2024, conservationists reached a major milestone when several healthy birds were released onto Palmyra Atoll, a protected predator-free island in the Pacific, marking the bird’s first return to the wild in nearly 40 years. In 2025, researchers celebrated the first wild eggs laid by the reintroduced birds, giving hope that the species may eventually recover enough to return to Guam in the future.
At a glance
Taxa
Birds
Geography
Guam
Status
Extinct in the Wild
Habitat
Forest
Estimated Population
About 120 individuals in breeding programs; 9 reintroduced birds
Threats
Predation by brown tree snakes and feral cats; habitat degradation
Potential Recovery Actions
Conservation breeding; habitat recovery; predator control; assisted colonization; community engagement
