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The Guam kingfisher, aka Sihek, disappeared from its island home in the 1980s after being wiped out by the invasive brown tree snake and is still listed as Extinct in the Wild on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.  It would be completely gone from this planet if the last few remaining birds hadn’t been gathered from Guam and placed in a managed breeding program established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

In the News – Cincinnati Zoo’s Sihek recovery efforts featured in The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is one of the facilities that has participated in the decades-long, collaborative effort to hatch enough offspring to start rewilding the birds.  In 2024, nine Sihek, including three from Cincinnati, were sent to a predator-free island south of the Hawaiian Islands. Almost two years later, all nine birds that were translocated to Palmyra Atoll, The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) preserve and research station located within a USFWS refuge, are alive and have produced several clutches of eggs! No chicks have hatched yet, but that is not unusual for young pairs.  They are exhibiting desired nesting behaviors and seem to be thriving.

The plan is for the Sihek Recovery Program to select nine more birds from the AZA population and integrate them into the Palmyra mix this fall, and, as of today, there are six chicks in Cincinnati Zoo’s bird nursery that are candidates!

We also have three breeding pairs and two young birds in a public viewing area, so, for the first time in more than a decade, Cincinnati Zoo is one of the only places in the world where people can see this rare bird. Other locations include Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Oregon Zoo, Milwaukee County Zoo, National Aviary (in Pittburgh, PA), and Sedgwick County Zoo (in Wichita, KS).

As of July 1, there were 27 chicks hatched in the AZA population, bringing the total number of Sihek in the managed program to 142.  The chicks are not all candidates for translocation.  Pairs will be carefully selected by the AZA Sihek Program Leader based on genetics, health, and sexes. The most likely candidates right now are from Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, National Aviary, and Saint Louis Zoo.

The chicks that stay behind are just as important as the ones that will go to Palmyra.  They will become part of the managed breeding program and will be paired with birds in other AZA facilities. The goal is to maintain a healthy population in Zoos while reestablishing a wild population in a temporary home. The ultimate goal is to reintroduce this species to Guam and to establish a healthy population there.

Project Partners

The Sihek released at Palmyra Atoll in 2024 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.

Other AZA facilities participating in the managed breeding effort include Zoo Miami, St. Louis Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and The Audubon Institute.

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.