This is one of a series presented by the National Aviary, which works to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds.

The fragile balance of nature is nowhere better illustrated than on the 210-square-mile island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the southern Pacific Ocean halfway between Australia and Japan. Until the 1940s, Guam was a haven for a dozen native tropical forest bird species; today only four persist there, and three of those are endangered. Because two-thirds of the tree species on Guam evolved to be reliant on birds for seed dispersal, the loss of so many birds has led to a 60 to 90 percent decline in tree regeneration on the island.

Clearly, this ecosystem that functioned so well for Guam’s native flora and fauna (and for its human inhabitants), for many thousands of years is quickly becoming ecologically dysfunctional. But why?

An ongoing cascade of negative ecological effects was triggered by the accidental introduction of brown tree snakes to the island at the end of World War II. Native to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia and the Solomon Islands, the first Boiga irregularis likely came to Guam as stowaways on a military cargo ship. The snakes slipped away and found themselves on an island where there was an abundance of prey, and no natural predators. One by one, the snakes helped themselves to the island’s unsuspecting birds, and within 40 years two-thirds of Guam’s native forest birds were gone or teetering on the brink of extinction. To date, nine of the island’s native birds are either extinct, extinct in the wild or extirpated from Guam, including four endemic species found nowhere else in the world: Guam reed-warbler, Guam flycatcher, Guam rail and Guam kingfisher.

The National Aviary is dedicated to helping preserve birdlife around the world through education, conservation, research and expert animal husbandry and veterinary care. We are an active member of the Marianas Avifauna Conservation Project, a consortium of nonprofit and governmental agencies working together to save and restore the unique birdlife of Guam and other nearby islands. The Aviary’s director of animal programs, Kurt Hundgen, has twice participated in critical field work to safely capture and carefully relocate at-risk birds like bridled white-eyes and rufous fantails to nearby snake-free islands, efforts that have been very successful.

He and his team also protect the endangered birds through collaborative breeding programs. Dedicated aviculturists at the National Aviary work tirelessly to create environments where the species can thrive and reproduce — an insurance policy for the hoped-for day when the species can be safely returned to Guam. In the specific case of Guam kingfisher, the National Aviary has successfully reared nine young birds from two different pairs in the past two years — a very significant contribution to the preservation of a species whose total global population is less than 130 birds.

You can help efforts to preserve the Guam kingfisher and other endangered birds by becoming a member of the National Aviary and by making purchases in our gift shop of items created through a Maker Challenge. In partnership with Bridgeway Capital’s Craft Business Accelerator and MONMADE, and funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the National Aviary’s Maker Challenge engaged local artisans to create products inspired by a National Aviary bird, which help tell the conservation story of that species. This month’s featured maker, Ashley Cecil, has created beautiful scarves, notecards and prints inspired by our Guam kingfishers, and their sale supports the National Aviary's conservation, education and avian medicine programs.

First Published: August 16, 2017, 4:00 a.m.