The Black Robin: saving the world's most endangered bird

Forest and Bird, Issue 267, 1 February 1993, Page 43

The Black Robin: saving the world's most endangered bird

Alan Tennyson

by David Butler and Don Merton (Oxford University Press) 1992, 304pp, $49.95 No species can come closer to extinction than the black robin. By the late 1970s it was reduced to one effective breeding pair and over the following decade a single rock fall, storm, rat invasion or accident during transfer between islands could have spelt the end of the bird. The first chapters of this story are the most gripping, describing the robin’s discovery by Europeans, the 1938 visit by Fleming, Turbott and Wotherspoon to the precipitous robin refuge of Little Mangere Island in the Chathams, the first involvement of the Wildlife Service in the 1950s, the realisation from the late 60s that the robin’s habitat was fast deteriorating, and the rescue of the species from its island fortress. Later chapters become a bit bogged down in the complexity and detail of the cross-fostering programme. They will be useful, however, for managers and scientists, and it is worth noting that the robin is the only wild species where the ancestry of every individual is known and can be traced to a common ancestor. Although several proof-reading errors have crept in, mainly in photo captions or references to photos, I found the book thoroughly enjoyable and a fascinating account of one of the world’s most startling and successful conservation programmes. In many ways the book is an opportunity for Merton to thank his numerous helpers over the years. Yet with a population of less than 140 individuals, the authors point out that it is brave to suggest the species is "saved". Now other more pressing Chatham Islands projects take priority over robin work. By 1988-89 the critically threatened state of other Chatham Islands birds — six species by then were rarer or more threatened than the robin — resulted in robin management work being reduced. It is still a sad reflection on the government’s misplaced priorities that work on a species

as vulnerable as the robin receives so little funding. As this book documents, the survival of an endangered species can sometimes depend on the skills and devotion of a few key individuals involved in the project. The continuing survival of the black robin is both testimony and tribute to the devotion of Merton and his team.