Spencer’s Perspective…

Spencer Collins is a bird captive management specialist who has been on Denis now for nearly month leading the work on the captive management of the magpie robins and their monitoring post release. Spencer is due to leave Denis on the 26th July (and return to the UK) and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his hard work and dedicated and conscientious approach to his duties whilst on the island. Furthermore despite his long arduous daily routine on Denis, Spencer kindly agreed to write a post on his work, during the first month of the SMR introduction Project:

I arrived on the main Seychelles island of Mahe early on the 25th of June and within 2 hours I was on a plane to Fregate and off to help with the with the translocation of 20 Seychelles Magpie Robins (SMRs) from Fregate and Cousin islands to Denis.
All the birds (16 from Fregate, 4 Cousin) were flown with me to Denis where they were soon released into aviaries. The birds were paired in 10 aviaries around the island and along with Catherina we cared for these birds within the aviaries and then monitored them after their release. Normally I work for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, as a Bird Keeper. Durrell has approximately 500 birds ranging from flocks of flamingos to the small Java Sparrows. We also keep a close relative of the SMR, the White rumped shama with similar needs to the robins, in captivity. This exciting project would be an opportunity for me to apply the skills I have learned with the Durrell Wildlife Trust to an active conservation project of an endangered species in the field.One of my main worries coming in to this work, knowing that all 20 of the birds were free living no more than a month before, was how the wild birds would cope with being placed in captivity. I was amazed to see how well they took to their new conditions. Birds were feeding soon after they were placed within the aviaries. The curious nature of the SMR appears to have helped greatly in their rapid adjustment to these changes.

Whilst the birds were in captivity, it was essential that Catherina and I, got them accustomed to feeding from the feed platforms, essentially bird tables, which would be used for provision of supplementary feed once the birds were released. The tables were placed in each aviary and again the SMRs took to these tables surprisingly fast – most birds taking from the platforms the first time we placed them in the aviaries. It was also crucial to condition the birds to associate our whistles with feeding again to enable supplementary feeding post-release but also to aid in the location and monitoring of the birds in the field. To this end, the birds were treated the same as you would train a dog to come to a whistle. Sure enough within a few days a whistle was all it took for them to anticipate the arrival of food.

As of the 18th of July all the birds have been released, Denis already resounds with song from males high in the canopy claiming ownership to their territories. Supplementary feeding is provided to help the birds establish themselves on the island along with nest boxes to facilitate nesting. Whistling and tapping feeding stations usually draws in the birds where they feed on the special food mix and treats of cockroaches and larvae.

The task now is to monitor birds across the island recording their progress and mapping their territories; and hopefully within the near future recording their breeding. With continued monitoring and supplementary feeding we hope to see them breeding in the near future and the production of the first generation of Denis Island-hatched SMRs.