Guam kingfisher

In the indigenous Chamorro language, it is referred to as {{lang|ch|sihek}}.{{Cite magazine |periodical=Smithsonian Magazine |first=Jennifer|last=Zoon|title=Scientists Are Using 3-D-Printing Technology to Ready Guam Kingfishers for Reintroduction to the Wild |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-zoo/2022/03/02/scientists-using-3d-printing-tech-ready-guam-kingfishers-for-reintroduction-to-wild/ |url-status=dead |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=29 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529093549/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-zoo/2022/03/02/scientists-using-3d-printing-tech-ready-guam-kingfishers-for-reintroduction-to-wild/ |language=en}}

The mysterious extinct Ryūkyū kingfisher, known from a single specimen, is sometimes placed as a subspecies (T. c. miyakoensis; Fry et al. 1992), but was declared invalid by the International Ornithological Congress in 2022, rendering the species monotypic.{{Cite web |title=IOC World Bird List 12.1 |url=https://doi.org/10.14344/IOC.ML.12.1 |access-date= |website=IOC World Bird List Datasets |language=en-US |doi=10.14344/ioc.ml.12.1|s2cid=246050277 }} Among-island differences in morphological, behavioral, and ecological characteristics have been determined sufficient that Micronesian kingfisher populations, of which the Guam kingfisher was considered a subspecies, should be split into separate species.{{Cite journal |last1=Andersen |first1=Michael J. |last2=Shult |first2=Hannah T. |last3=Cibois |first3=Alice |last4=Thibault |first4=Jean-Claude |last5=Filardi |first5=Christopher E. |last6=Moyle |first6=Robert G. |title=Rapid diversification and secondary sympatry in Australo-Pacific kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae: Todiramphus) |journal=Royal Society Open Science |year=2015 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=140375 |doi=10.1098/rsos.140375 |pmc=4448819 |pmid=26064600|bibcode=2015RSOS....240375A }}

This is a brilliantly colored, medium-sized kingfisher, {{cvt|20-24|cm}} in length. They have iridescent blue backs and rusty-cinnamon heads. Adult male Guam kingfishers have cinnamon underparts while females and juveniles are white below. They have large laterally-flattened bills and dark legs. The calls of Micronesian kingfishers are generally raspy chattering.{{Cite web |title=ECOS: Species Profile |url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6 |access-date=9 May 2022 |website=ecos.fws.gov |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120162859/https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6 |url-status=live }}

Guam kingfishers are terrestrial forest generalists that tended to be somewhat secretive. The birds nested in cavities excavated from soft-wooded trees and arboreal termitaria, on Guam.{{Cite journal |last=Marshall |first=Samuel D. |date=1989 |title=Nest Sites of the Micronesian Kingfisher on Guam |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4162756 |journal=The Wilson Bulletin |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=472–477 |jstor=4162756 |issn=0043-5643 |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=9 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509050520/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4162756 |url-status=live }} Micronesian kingfishers defended permanent territories as breeding pairs and family groups.{{Cite journal |last1=Kesler |first1=Dylan C. |last2=Lopes |first2=Iara F. |last3=Haig |first3=Susan M. |date=March 2006 |title=Sex determination of Pohnpei Micronesian Kingfishers using morphological and molecular genetic techniques |url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1689&context=usgsstaffpub |journal=Journal of Field Ornithology |language=en |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=229–232 |doi=10.1111/j.1557-9263.2006.00045.x |s2cid=14034258 |issn=0273-8570 |access-date=16 May 2024 |archive-date=6 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806231344/https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1689&context=usgsstaffpub |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} Both sexes care for young, and some offspring remain with parents for extended periods. Research suggests that thermal environment has the potential to influence reproduction.

In the wild, the Guam kingfisher feeds on Insects, Spiders, Lizards, and small crustaceans. The birds dive and capture their prey on the ground, similar to other species of kingfishers that dive for fish in water.{{Cite web |title=Guam kingfisher (sihek) |url=https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/guam-kingfisher |access-date=25 April 2024 |website=Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute |language=en |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502084450/https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/guam-kingfisher |url-status=live }}

File:Brown treesnake upclose (9601697830).jpg drove the Guam kingfisher to extinction in the wild.]]

The Guam kingfisher population was extirpated from its native habitat after the introduction of brown tree snakes.{{Cite journal |last=Savidge |first=Julie A. |date=1987 |title=Extinction of an Island Forest Avifauna by an Introduced Snake |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1938471 |journal=Ecology |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=660–668 |doi=10.2307/1938471 |jstor=1938471 |bibcode=1987Ecol...68..660S |issn=0012-9658 |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924123343/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1938471 |url-status=live }} It was last seen in the wild in 1986, and the birds are now U.S. listed as endangered. The Guam kingfisher persists as a captive population of fewer than two hundred individuals (as of 2017) in US mainland and Guam breeding facilities. There are plans to reintroduce the Guam birds to Palmyra Atoll, and potentially also back to their native range on Guam if protected areas can be established and the threat of the brown tree snakes is eliminated or better controlled.

As of September 2024, all nine of the Guam kingfishers that were transferred from the Brookfield Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, National Aviary, Sedgwick County Zoo, and Disney's Animal Kingdom, have been released on Cooper Island, in Palmyra Atoll.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-25 |title=Sihek: Rare Guam kingfishers released back into wild for first time in 40 years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cz6wd58d8l9o |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=BBC Newsround |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=GrrlScientist |title=Extinct-In-The-Wild Birds Released Into Wild For First Time In 40 Years |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2024/09/25/extinct-in-the-wild-birds-released-into-wild-for-first-time-in-40-years/ |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=Forbes |language=en}} The introduced population has since begun breeding with the first eggs sighted in April 2025, the first laid in the wild in over 40 years. {{Cite news |last=Macedonio |first=Cameron |date=21 April 2025 |title=Once-extinct bird species lays first wild eggs in 40 years |url=https://www.khon2.com/local-news/once-extinct-bird-species-lays-first-wild-eggs-in-40-years/ |access-date=21 April 2025 |work=Khon2 Working for Hawaii}}

In 2023 the Guam kingfisher was featured on a United States Postal Service Forever stamp as part of the Endangered Species set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore's Photo Ark. The stamp was dedicated at a ceremony at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.{{Cite news |date=19 April 2023 |title=Postal Service Spotlights Endangered Species |work=United States Postal Service |url=https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/0419ma-postal-service-spotlights-endangered-species.htm |access-date=11 May 2023 |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511160200/https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/0419ma-postal-service-spotlights-endangered-species.htm |url-status=live }}

A mated pair of Guam kingfishers can be viewed by the public at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, one of the participants in the species survival plan.{{Cite web |title=Guam Kingfishers |url=https://www.aviary.org/conservation/saving-species/ssp/guam-kingfishers/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=National Aviary |language=en-US}}

• List of birds of Guam

{{Reflist}}

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• {{cite thesis|s2cid=82407115|title=Population demography, resource use, and movement in cooperatively breeding Micronesian Kingfishers |year=2005 |last1=Kesler |first1=D. }}
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• {{cite book|last1=Fry|first1= C. Hilary |first2=Kathie|last2= Fry|first3= Alan |last3=Harris|year=1992|title=Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers|publisher= Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0713680287}}
• {{cite journal|jstor=4088732|last1=Haig |first1=Susan M. |last2=Ballou |first2=Jonathan D. |title=Genetic Diversity in Two Avian Species Formerly Endemic to Guam |journal=The Auk |year=1995 |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=445–455 |doi=10.2307/4088732 }}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111616|title=Genetic Identification of Kin in Micronesian Kingfishers |year=1995 |last1=Haig |first1=S. M. |last2=Ballou |first2=J. D. |last3=Casna |first3=N. J. |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=86 |issue=6 |pages=423–431 }}
• {{cite journal|jstor = 4162756| title=Nest Sites of the Micronesian Kingfisher on Guam | last1=Marshall | first1=Samuel D. | journal=The Wilson Bulletin | year=1989 | volume=101 | issue=3 | pages=472–477 }}
• Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ.
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• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2004. Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Sihek or Guam Micronesian Kingfisher (Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina).
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1984. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: determination of endangered status for seven birds and two bats on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Federal Register 50 CFR Part 17 49(167), 33881–33885.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2004. Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Sihek or Guam Micronesian Kingfisher (Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, OR.

{{refend}}

• [https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/guam-kingfisher-todiramphus-cinnamominus/ BirdLife Species Factsheet.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607223440/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=24 Micronesian kingfisher] Naturalis The Netherlands
• [https://www.philadelphiazoo.org/guam-kingfisher-conservation/ Philadelphia Zoo] – Description of Guam Micronesian kingfisher Conservation efforts
• [http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/wesa/microkingfishindex.html United States Fish and Wildlife Service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209074356/http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/wesa/microkingfishindex.html |date=9 December 2006 }} – Threatened and Endangered Animals in the Pacific Islands.
• [http://fresc.usgs.gov/staff/haig/endangered/ US Geological Survey] – USGS Micronesian Avifauna Conservation Projects
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070717172351/http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Resources/Education/BTS/ US Geological Survey] – The Brown Treesnake on Guam.

{{Halcyoninae}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q204140}}

Category:Todiramphus

Category:Birds of Guam

Category:Birds described in 1821

Category:ESA endangered species

Category:Taxa named by William Swainson