
Wild & Weird: Something to Crow About
For more than 2 million years, the native forests of the islands of Guam and Rota were home to several thousand Mariana crows, a species found nowhere else on Earth. But over the past 60 years, the crows have disappeared from Guam and rapidly declined on Rota. Now only about 175 are left.
But a recent project brings hope for these beautiful birds: Using eggs collected from the wild, researchers have raised several Mariana crows past the period of highest mortality and released them. And because females generally lay another set of eggs when a nest fails, the project could double the number of broods in a year.
Check out footage of the first captive-reared Mariana crows foraging in the wild on Facebook or YouTube.
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