As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 21 November 2018

Australia's 'most important bird' takes a step back from extinction


20 November 2018 — 12:01am
Australia's "most important bird" – and one whose conservation some scientists consider the most urgent of any  bird in the world – has just taken a significant step back from the brink of extinction.
The critically endangered plains-wanderer once roamed the grasslands surrounding Melbourne.
So it is fitting that on these volcanic plains, for the first time in Victoria,  the bird has been bred in captivity.
It can be revealed that on November 4 four healthy plains-wanderer chicks hatched at the Werribee Open Range Zoo. Their names: Quagmire, Jane, Ramble and Clinton.
The plains-wanderer is found only in south-eastern Australia and is ranked No. 1 in the world on the Zoological Society of London's Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered bird list.
With fewer than 1000 mature plains-wanderers left in the wild and a population in decline, these four fluffy little bundles represent a milestone in the fight to stop the species dying out.


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