21 Jun 2019
Amongst
the destruction and tragedy on Grand Bahama caused by Hurricane Matthew, there
is an untold story of a rediscovered, but very threatened bird with a potential
population of just two.
How low
can a bird species’ population drop and still be saved from extinction? It’s an
interesting theoretical question, and it became more than an academic one for
scientists and conservationists last summer, when the Bahama Nuthatch Sitta
insularis, a bird feared extinct, was rediscovered.
Prior to
the rediscovery, the nuthatch had not been seen since Hurricane Matthew
ripped through Grand Bahama – the island on which the bird is endemic – in June
of 2016. Two years on from the carnage, two students from the University of
East Anglia, working in conjunction with BirdLife International and the Bahamas
National Trust (BirdLife Partner) went on an expedition to catch sight of the
bird.
“We had
been scouring the forest for about six weeks, and had almost lost hope,” says
Matthew Gardner of the rediscovery. “At that point we’d walked about 400
kilometres. Then, I suddenly heard its distinctive call and saw the
unmistakable shape of a nuthatch descending towards me. I shouted with joy, I
was ecstatic!”
The world
was ecstatic along with him. The news made international headlines, and the
ornithological world celebrated the rediscovery of the Bahama Nuthatch. But are
the celebrations warranted? Gardner and his partner, David Pereira, saw the
Bahama Nuthatch six times throughout their three-month survey, but they never
saw two birds together, leading them to believe there may only be one
individual left. A team of Bahamian students, led by Zeko McKenzie of Loma
Linda University, independently recorded five sighting of the nuthatch in the
same forest, and believe they may have seen two birds together. With only one
or two Bahama Nuthatches left though, is it possible for the bird to make a
comeback?
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