Magpie Robin News 1

Having been brought to Denis on the 25th of June, the soft introduction method kept the birds in captivity until the commencement of staggered releases on the 13th of July. By the 18th of July all birds had been released and the singing of males from high perches was a prominent new feature of the island.

Since the commencement of releases, Catherina and Spencer have spent every daylight hour in the field searching for the birds and setting up feeding tables where they found them. During their time in captivity the birds had been fed thrice daily and methodically habituated to associating the whistles of their keepers to the act of provisioning of the feed tables. This groundwork is now paying off with birds, once located, coming readily to take their supplementary feeds from the stations.

Birds, post-release, can be expected to roam exploring their new surroundings before identifying territorial areas. This coupled with Denis’s size (143 Ha) and heavily forested vegetation made it likely that some birds would not be seen for extended periods of time.

I am therefore very happy to be able report that since the 18th of July all 19 birds have been re-sighted and appear to be in good condition. One bird Blue/Red which had not been located, has now been sighted by 4 people on separate occasions since Thursday 24th in a localised area to the south of the island.
So, to summarise, as of Friday 25th July 7 territories appear to have been established, 3 single birds have established home range areas whilst two other birds are still considered to be floaters – i.e. roaming on the island.

In the meantime the work of monitoring and supplementary feeding continues apace so check back periodically for updates…