Two sihek – A male and a female sihek chick hatched in mid-April at the Smithsonian National Zoo’s conservation campus in Front Royal, Virginia, offering hope for a species classified as extinct in the wild. The pair brings the global sihek population to just 125.
When the sihek chicks arrived in mid-April, keepers at the Smithsonian National Zoo’s conservation campus in Front Royal, Virginia, didn’t just welcome new birds. They welcomed rare genetic value into a species that has been hanging on in the hardest way possible.
The Smithsonian said two sihek chicks hatched at the campus—one male and one female. Together, they join a total world sihek population of just 125.
For the conservation team, the timing matters, but the parents may matter even more. Smithsonian wrote that the chicks’ parents are Antonio. five. and Poki. two. and that both are first timers who have never bred before. Because their genes are not well represented in the population. the Smithsonian said their offspring are particularly valuable for the breeding population. Keeper Erica Royer put it plainly: “Every sihek chick is special, but these two are particularly precious.”.
The sihek, also known as the Guam kingfisher, was classified as extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the 1980s. The zoo said the species was wiped out after the invasive brown tree snake reached Guam.
Even in captivity, the birds remain small—about 9 inches long as adults and weighing about as much as a tennis ball. But what they represent is anything but small for conservationists trying to pull the species back.
The Smithsonian said the chicks are part of the Sihek Recovery Program. a global collaborative of conservationists dedicated to recovering the species native to Guam. With the world population at 125. each new hatch is more than a milestone—it’s a fragile step toward a future the species hasn’t had in the wild since the 1980s.
sihek Guam kingfisher Smithsonian National Zoo Front Royal conservation extinct in the wild brown tree snake Sihek Recovery Program