\n
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The \u2018alalā,<\/i> which resembles a raven more than a crow, is the most endangered corvid in the world and one of just two corvid species known for widespread tool use. It\u2019s also among the chattiest corvids, with more than 50 documented calls, and it\u2019s referred to in Hawaiian mythology as the \u201cbird with the big voice.\u201d The \u2018alalā <\/i>is an omnivore, and its diet mostly consists of fruit and insects gleaned from the forest understory, but it also eats flower petals, nectar, mice and the nestlings of smaller birds.<\/p>\n
To Hawaiians, the \u2018alalā<\/i> is an \u2018aumakua<\/i> \u201cwho functions as a guardian, guide and protector,\u201d says ku\u02bbualoha ho\u02bbomanawanui, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who specializes in mo\u02bbolelo<\/i>, or the traditional knowledge that includes folklore and mythology. \u201c\u02bbAumākua<\/i> often appear in dreams [or] visions or called out to the people they protected to warn of danger or sometimes to scold them for wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there is a familial and symbiotic relationship, people did not harm or eat their \u2018aumākua <\/i>but fed them and helped them when in need,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
It became clear the \u2018alalā<\/i> were \u201cin need\u201d when the population plummeted in the 1970s and 1980s. Avian malaria, invasive predators such as feral cats, and habitat loss caused by the expansion of cattle ranches had reduced the population to just a few dozen individuals. Scientists with the state of Hawaii began pulling eggs from nests in the mid-1970s to create a genetic ark in captivity.<\/p>\n
Today two captive breeding centers operated by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance are home to more than 100 \u2018alalā<\/i>\u2014but a stable population in captivity is a world away from the wild, Bailey explains. Reintroduction is a messy process when animals are several generations away from living in nature. That\u2019s especially true when the threats that brought the population to its knees are still present.<\/p>\n\n\n
Five \u2018alalā<\/i> were released on Maui, where it natural predator, the \u2018<\/i>io,<\/i> or Hawaiian hawk, is not present.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Previous reintroduction attempts in the 1990s and again in the late 2010s saw high fatality rates. Some birds seemed to die from malnutrition, whereas others contracted toxoplasmosis or avian pox. Over the years, \u2018io<\/i> have taken down at least 16 released \u2018alalā<\/i> and caused conservationists to abort reintroductions. Though those losses were \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d Bailey says, \u201cI caution people against saying these were failures. The amount of information we learned\u2014about behavior, bonds between the groups, even food and resource usage\u2014that\u2019s all so valuable to making our future plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The five birds released in Maui are between a year and a year and a half old\u2014a window where the birds are at \u201ca particularly good age for learning how to navigate new things,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cYou can kind of think of them as a rambunctious group of teenagers at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey and her team purposefully cluster hatchings to create a \u201cclass\u201d of nestlings of a similar age \u201cbecause we want them to form social relationships,\u201d she says. Scientists aren\u2019t sure whether \u2018alalā<\/i> form large social groups or prefer to keep to themselves outside of mating season, but Bailey says she hopes they\u2019ll band together to fend off predators by \u201cmobbing\u201d them like other corvid cousins do.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a clear power dynamic in the cohort of two females and three males. \u201cThe females are a little pushy,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cEven though they\u2019re younger, they\u2019re just like, \u2018Nope, we\u2019ve got this. This is how you do things.\u2019\u201d And they\u2019re almost always right, she says.<\/p>\n
From a young age, the birds were introduced to native Hawaiian food sources, including insect species and fruits. A relatively new addition to their coursework is antipredator training: the young crows were taught to recognize \u2018io,<\/i> barn owls, and house cats and to associate them with alarm calls from adult \u2018alalā<\/i>. \u201cIf they didn\u2019t respond properly, that lowered their chances of being in the release cohort,\u201d Bailey says.<\/p>\n
Before being helicoptered to the Maui release site, the graduating birds received a traditional blessing from hula master Kapono\u2018ai Molitau, who spoke of the importance of \u2018alalā<\/i> as \u201chulu kūpuna<\/i>,\u201d or honored elders. The class of crows then spent several weeks acclimating in outdoor aviaries on the slopes of Maui before their release into a remote forest reserve.<\/p>\n
Initially, the birds will have food dropped off for them to ease their transition to self-sufficiency. This new class will also be outfitted with tracking harnesses, which will allow the researchers to follow their movements\u2014or learn their fates.<\/p>\n
What does success look like for this cohort? Bailey says it doesn\u2019t mean establishing a wild breeding population right away. \u201cWe want to see them using the landscape well,\u201d she says. \u201cWe want to see survival.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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