On Cousin Island, two Seychelles Magpie robin chicks share a nest
Category: Cousin Island, Endemic birds, birds | Date: Sep 18 2009 | By: savingparadise
Here are some pictures taken by student Rachel Cartwright on Cousin Island of an unusual occurrence: two Seychelles Magpie robin chicks sharing a nest. Eric Blais, Conservation Officer and Cousin Island wardens are keeping an eye on the chicks. Cousin is home to a population of some 27 Seychelles Magpie robins. These are part of a total population of approximately 200 individuals found on five of Seychelles islands. The endemic birds were once on the brink of extinction and were classified as critically endangered on IUCN’s Red List. Their recovery through the highly successful Magpie robin Recovery Program - led by BirdLife International and then managed by Nature Seychelles - took this species away from the brink of extinction and saw them down listed to “Endangered”.
Tags: BirdLife, Cousin Island, Nature Seychelles, Seychelles Magpie robin
On a lighter note, our Chief appears on the cover of Indian magazine
Category: Nature Seychelles, birds | Date: Sep 09 2009 | By: savingparadise
MISTNET (the Indian Bird Conservation Network Magazine) Volume 10.2 has a picture of Nature Seychelles’ CEO Nirmal Shah on its cover. This was a Special issue covering the Bird Tourism Charter for Asia. The picture (see above) shows Nirmal with a Sooty Tern Serna fuscata perched on his head, and seemingly having a chat with another. Taken on Bird Island, it is set against the backdrop of the famous bird spectacle that occurs on this and other islands from May-September when millions of Sooty Terns descend on the island to breed.
“If this keeps on, I will soon be able to quit my day job”. Shah Says.
Picture taken by Manisha Shah.
Tags: Bird Island, Nature Seychelles, Sooty terns
Update on Frigatebird
Category: Sanctuary at Roche Caiman, birds | Date: Sep 07 2009 | By: savingparadise
Terence (L) and David (Science Coordinator, R) were interviewed about the bird by SBC Radio
The Frigatebird recovered and left. One day last week we went to check on it, as we have been doing every morning, and it was gone from the mangroves where it had been making steady progress towards recovery. For the past week staff at Nature Seychelles have been feeding the bird with fish. At first it had to be force-fed but eventually it got to feeding itself. Soon we noticed it was moving around. It had in fact originally moved from the Bird hide to the mangroves by itself.
The bird has generated quite some interest with both SBC Radio and TV recording nature programmes around it. More about those programmes when they air, but they focused on the bird, where its found in the Seychelles and steps to take when one finds an injured bird.
Tags: Frigatebird, Media, Roche Caiman
Frigatebird interrupted
Category: birds | Date: Aug 31 2009 | By: savingparadise
A Frigatebird rescued from the harbour was brought into our office today. It seemed unable to fly. Frigatebirds, abundant throughout Seychelles and breeding on Aldabra and nearby islands, are long-distance fliers that spend most of their life flying over the ocean with a gliding flight. However, they do not land on sea. Unlike other seabirds, the feet are not webbed, making it difficult for them to paddle through water. Their feet are also too small and do not give the bird the force needed to become airborne from the surface of the sea. For food, Frigatebirds pick prey from the water surface. They also snatch fish from other birds in the air. For seabirds, they have poor water proofing. We think the reason our bird will not fly is that it got a bit of water in its wings. No injuries were visible.
We took the bird outside and attempted to perch it on the mangroves, popular with Frigatebirds for nesting, but it was incapable of balance.
In the end, we decided the bird hide would be best for it to rest and recover. It is currently patched there where it has a great view.
The bird hide is the place where visitors to the wetland [Sanctuary at Roche Caiman] get the opportunity to view birds. It’s a nice place at the end of a boardwalk. Visitors to the hide are asked to observe these rules:
- Stay quiet
- Do not tamper with displays in the hide
- Hold on to your litter or take it to the nearest bin
- Smoking and chewing gum are strictly prohibited.
Somehow I don’t see the Frigatebird having any trouble with these rules. All the same we hope it will leave the hide and return to its long distance gliding.
More Frigatebird facts at our website
Tags: Aldabra, Frigatebird, Seabirds
Picture of the Day: rescued chicks doing well
Category: birds, people | Date: Aug 27 2009 | By: savingparadise
Oh how fast they grow! We just received this picture of the two Tropicbird chicks we reported on in our post here. They are growing up fast and look all settled in their new home. The chicks, rescued by a family on Mahe were brought to Nature Seychelles and thereafter released on Cousine Island.
Tags: Tropicbird
Read Zwazo, Nature Seychelles’ conservation magazine
Category: Nature Seychelles, birds | Date: Aug 14 2009 | By: savingparadise
Zwazo issue No. 19 is out. Zwazo is produced bi-annually by Nature Seychelles and distributed in hard copy. Issue No. 19 focuses on people, birds and small islands. In its editorial titled “the Birds and the Buzz”, we tell you why there’s been so much “buzz” about the birds of Seychelles. We tell you how “the little brown job”, the Seychelles Warbler, saved from extinction through conservation action on Cousin Island, became the rallying point for rescuing other species and helped save seabirds, lizards, sea turtles and coral fish.
Cousin Island Special Reserve celebrated 40 years of conservation success in 2008. In this issue we tell you the comprehensive “coconuts to conservation” story. We also bring you stories from people who have been associated with the Reserve since its purchase by International Commission for Protection of Birds, now BirdLife International, in 1968. Prof. Tony Diamond of the University of New Brunswick lived on Cousin in the mid-1970s. Read his “Birds and the Bush: Bird responses to vegetation changes on Cousin Island, 1970s – 2008″ where he talks about the restoration of native forest on Cousin Island; “an interesting, and potentially instructive, ecological experiment”.
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