News and Stories

Birds from Cincinnati Zoo sitting on history on an island in the Pacific

CINCINNATI (April 22, 2025) – Sihek – an endangered bird recently returned to the wild – have laid eggs on their new Pacific island home at Palmyra Atoll, making them the first wild eggs for the species in almost 40 years. Birds from Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden are sitting on some of those eggs!

Visual Assets

Nine young Sihek* – also known as Guam kingfishers – hand-raised by zookeepers were released at The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) Palmyra Atoll Preserve, about 1,000 miles south of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, in September 2024 by the Sihek Recovery Program, a global collaboration of conservationists dedicated to rewilding these magnificent, colorful birds. Three of the nine came from Cincinnati Zoo.

“This work on Palmyra is something I couldn’t have imagined witnessing in my lifetime, let alone being a part of,” said Cincinnati Zoo’s Senior Aviculturist Aimee Owen. “We’re so excited that they’ve all come as far as they have and that Tutuhan, Cincinnati’s first egg, first chick produced, and the first chick of the entire project is now one of the first to produce eggs on the island.  Her being “the first of firsts” of this ground-breaking conservation work is a milestone that simply fills us with pride, even beyond playing our role in the first place.”

The eggs demonstrate how the birds have flourished since they arrived on their new island home. The four female and five male birds have learned how to forage and hunt new prey, formed pairs, established territories, built nests, and laid eggs, marking the first time the species has bred in the wild since their extinction from their native island of Guam in the 1980s.

“The short-term goal is to establish a fully self-sustaining Sihek population on Palmyra Atoll,” said Owen.  “The ultimate goal is to reestablish a Sihek population on Guam.”

With the mated pairs less than a year old, this is their first time incubating and caring for eggs, meaning it’s likely it will take a few rounds of egg laying for the birds to hone their skills and hatch chicks. Nonetheless, these eggs demonstrate both the tremendous resilience of these remarkable birds and the power of conservation to create a second chance for species on the brink of extinction.

Sihek, as the birds are known by the indigenous CHamoru* people of Guam, also known as Guahan, were decimated when the brown tree snake was accidentally introduced to the islands in the 1940s. As the population crashed, Guam biologists brought 29 Sihek under human care, starting a conservation breeding program in Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos across the United States (US).

Palmyra Atoll was selected as the home for the first wild Sihek in almost 40 years because it is largely predator-free and fully protected. TNC’s Palmyra Preserve is encompassed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife and by the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, one of the largest swaths of ocean and islands protected in the world.

“The Guahan Sihek continue to etch their story upon us, marking milestones with Tutuhan again at the forefront! Tutuhan was the first hatchling last year and now is the first confirmed to produce eggs. Her name means beginning and she showed signs of strength from the beginning, wanting to feed herself before being old enough to do so,” says Yolonda Topasna, Guam Department of Agriculture Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) Program Coordinator. “Tutuhan challenged another female for Hinanao’s partnership and won! Now our pair take turns watching over their precious eggs,” she says.

Plans are underway for more young Sihek to be released at Palmyra Atoll this summer. Egg laying season is underway at participating AZA-accredited institutions across the US, including at the Cincinnati Zoo.

The Sihek released at Palmyra Atoll last fall are the result of a cooperative of the following institutions who either contributed eggs to be hatched or staff to assist with their care: Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, National Aviary, Sedgwick County Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Tracy Aviary, and ZSL’s London and Whipsnade Zoos. The eggs were hatched and raised by staff members of the cooperative institutions in a purpose-built facility at Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, where they received expert care until they were mature enough to make the journey to the atoll.

*Sihek is capitalized in CHamoru. CHamoru is spelled with a capital H.

Sihek Recovery Program

The Sihek Recovery Program is a global collaborative of conservationists dedicated to recovering one of Guam’s most iconic native species, the Sihek (Guam kingfisher, Todiramphus cinnamominus). The Sihek Recovery Program acknowledges the hard work of many partners including Guam Department of Agriculture, Association of Zoos & Aquariums, The Nature Conservancy, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and ZSL.

Sihek biological notes 

Project biologists were prepared to provide supplemental food, nesting materials and other assistance to help the nine young Sihek get established, but the Sihek found plenty of food to eat as well as places to nest. To create a nest, most often in dead coconut trees, the birds take turns hitting the tree with their beaks repeatedly to form an opening, making as many as 30 cavities before selecting one to nest in. Sihek typically lay a clutch of two eggs, although clutches of one to three eggs have been observed. The average incubation period for Sihek eggs to hatch is approximately 21 to 23 days. While the lifespan of Sihek in the wild is unknown, they have been observed to live between 15 and 20 years under human care.