Lord Howe’s Island, situated east of Australia, has seen more than one conservation success story, among them the Lord Howe’s Island woodhen. Nicholas Carlile told me the tale of saving this bird from extinction. In 1971, there were only about twenty of the bantam-sized, olive-brown flightless woodhens left in the world. They are related to the wekas of New Zealand and, like them, would have become extinct without intervention.

Woodhens scratch about on the forest floor in their search for food, form pairs, establish territories and nest in existing burrows, hollows under tree roots, and so on. Like so many island birds, they are very tame. And the beginning of what nearly became their end was when people arrived on Lord Howe’s Island. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, passing ships stopped on the island for supplies of water and food. Woodhens were easy to catch and good to eat, and when settlers arrived in the 1830s the birds became a major source of food. Of course the usual domestic animals arrived with the settlers, and once pigs and feral cats had invaded the forests, the ground-living woodhen had no chance. By 1887, there seem to have been only a few woodhens left high on Mount Gower and on one of its foothills, Little Slope. Then in 1914, a zoological collector took no less than forty-one specimens from Little Slope! By this time goats were roaming there, destroying the vegetation, and all the remaining woodhens there disappeared.

Scientific studies of woodhen behavior began in 1971 and it became clear that, although the tiny Mount Gower population of about twenty-two birds seemed to be stable, it wasn’t large enough to survive an outbreak of disease or other catastrophe. Scientists recommended a captive breeding program aimed at reintroducing woodhens to various parts of their former range. A resident ornithologist, Dr. Ben Miller, arrived in 1978. He found a few more woodhens, but also recorded a high death rate on Mount Gower where there were many rats, cats, and goats. Gradually, more and more of the woodhens’ habitat was vanishing, even as cats hunted and killed the last birds.

At last, a recovery plan was approved and action was taken. The task of ridding the island of feral pigs and cats was first on the list. The islanders were by this time anxious to see woodhen numbers increasing, and when offered fifteen dollars for every tail, they successfully hunted 186 pigs. Two rangers began the more difficult job of ridding the island of the cats.

Meanwhile, work began on facilities for a breeding program at a site that was easily accessible and provided appropriate habitat and plenty of natural food for the woodhens. The Woodhen Breeding Centre was ready for its birds in May 1980. By this time, Ben Miller reckoned that the only survivors were five healthy breeding pairs on Mount Gower and some unpaired younger birds.

The woodhens brought into the breeding program were cared for by Glenn Fraser from New Zealand, chosen because of his success with breeding other endangered members of the rail family, including the weka. Their diet at the center was gourmet: a mix of poultry pellets, cat food, grated cheese, and mealworms, supplemented in the breeding season with cottage cheese and eggs. Suitable grubs from the forest were collected and delivered by the locals, who were fascinated by all that was going on. The birds also dined on Madeira cake, home-baked for them by a certain Mrs. Widdicombe! There was great excitement on the island when the first captive-bred chick hatched on August 19, 1980. It was affectionately nicknamed Widdy, for Mrs. Widdicombe!

The first site chosen for release was Little Slope, and in 1982 the first four individuals were released there. They did well, and soon eighteen additional birds joined them. A year later, a survey showed that several pairs had formed territories, and in February 1983 researchers recorded the first chicks from captive-bred birds. After this success, Glenn Fraser released additional birds directly into the wild at various locations around the island.

Every November, the Lord Howe’s Island woodhen population is surveyed. Birds are attracted to tape recordings of their calls, captured, measured, and weighed. Those who have not yet been tagged are fitted with bands giving an identification number, and colors signifying the year of birth. As a result of these surveys, it was learned that over fifteen years there was a stable population ranging between two and three hundred. It was thought that further expansion might be limited by lack of a suitable habitat. The surveys will be continued, and there are plans for starting a population on the mainland as an insurance against disease outbreaks or other catastrophes.

Unexpected Behavior
Nicholas Carlile took part in the woodhen surveys from 1993 to 1996—just one of his many projects on Lord Howe’s Island. In the late 1990s, he set up PhD student Adam Bester to carry out a three-year study of the threatened providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri) in the cloud forest of Mount Gower—where, by then, there was a healthy population of woodhens. The petrels breed in the dry months, digging nest chambers at the end of tunnels that can be up to three feet long. One day, to his amazement, Adam saw a woodhen locate an underground nest, excavate a hole, and then drag out the defenseless chick—which was larger than itself. The woodhen then throttled the chick and feasted on the most nutritious part—the brain. Fortunately, he witnessed this murderous and very unexpected behavior only a few times, and it seemed unlikely to seriously affect the petrels.

The Role of the Individual
We must never forget that in these stories, it is not only individual humans who make a different—so, too, may an individual animal play a significant role. Let me end with one such special bird. In August 1980, at the start of the captive breeding program, a lone male bird wandered onto Jim and Evie King’s property, at the southern end of their settlement. Apparently approving of this new environment, he stayed and was adopted by Jim and Evie. Soon he became very tame and Glenn Fraser was able to study his behavior, comparing it with that of the captive birds. The following year, Glenn provided this male with a captive female. They bonded, laid three eggs, and raised one chick. After this, further clutches followed in quick succession, and three years after the female arrived there were thirty-six birds on the Kings’ property—birds who formed the basis for the current population of lowland woodhens on the island. That one male had started a new dynasty!

Certainly the woodhen recovery program was an outstanding success. By 1983, the breeding center was closed after ninety-two woodhens had been raised for release around Lord Howe’s Island. Resident author and photographer Ian Hutton summarized the program this way: “The Woodhen story provides a convincing demonstration that captive breeding can be a successful means of re-establishing a population in the wild. It supplies a model for the captive breeding of other threatened species of birds, and should give inspiration to those struggling to preserve endangered species everywhere.”