Birds
Guam Kingfisher
Todiramphus cinnamominus · also called sihek
Existing today only within zoos and conservation facilities, a Guam kingfisher carries the same painful history as its island’s other lost birds, wiped out in the wild by an invasive snake but kept alive through captive breeding in hope of one day returning home.
Overview
The Guam kingfisher, Todiramphus cinnamominus, also known as the sihek, is a kingfisher extinct in the wild since the 1980s, historically native to forest habitat on the island of Guam. Its total loss from the wild due to invasive brown tree snakes, survival today entirely through captive breeding programs, and status as a focus of ongoing reintroduction efforts make it one of the most conservation-significant kingfishers in the world, echoing the same fate suffered by the closely related Guam rail.
A species kept alive by human hands alone
Every Guam kingfisher alive today exists because a small founder population was rescued into captivity before brown tree snakes could finish wiping out the species entirely, leaving its future resting on breeding programs rather than any wild population.
Status
Extinct in the Wild, surviving only through captive breeding programs working toward eventual reintroduction to predator-free sites.
Guam Kingfisher: common questions
Is the Guam kingfisher extinct?
This species is extinct in the wild, having been wiped out from its only native range on Guam by invasive brown tree snakes during the 1980s, but it survives today through captive breeding programs at zoos and conservation facilities.
Why is the Guam kingfisher also called the sihek?
This species is known locally as the sihek, a name that remains in use by conservationists and residents of Guam even though the bird itself no longer survives in the wild there.
What caused the Guam kingfisher's extinction in the wild?
Invasive brown tree snakes, accidentally introduced to Guam, devastated the island's native forest bird population, a threat that also drove the closely related Guam rail to extinction in the wild around the same period.
Could the Guam kingfisher return to the wild?
Conservationists are working toward that goal, with ongoing efforts aimed at eventually reintroducing captive-bred birds to sites managed to exclude the brown tree snakes and other predators responsible for the species' original decline.