Eight chicks belonging to a dove species that has been extinct in the wild for decades have successfully hatched at Chester Zoo – boosting survival hopes for the incredibly rare birds.
Today, all remaining Socorro doves are cared for in zoo conservation-breeding programmes across Europe and North America, which are working to pull the species back from the brink.
Approximately 200 birds represent the entire surviving population, but bird experts have revealed that eight chicks (known as squabs) have hatched at Chester this summer.
Some are now fully fledged, and there is a chance another clutch of eggs might be on the way.
Chester Zoo, a conservation charity, cares for two breeding pairs of Socorro doves and supports the wider conservation-breeding effort.
Socorro doves originally lived on Socorro Island off the coast of Mexico, but a mixture of factors led to their extinction in the wild.
Andrew Owen, head of the bird department at Chester Zoo, said:
“Historically, the Socorro dove had few natural predators, and the island remained uninhabited by people. Sheep introduced in the 1800s caused extensive damage to the wild vegetation and in 1957 a naval base was established on the island. Naval staff and their families brought domestic cats which became feral and caused tremendous damage to the native wildlife, including the Socorro dove population, which was last seen in the wild in 1972.
“Sadly, the Socorro dove was overlooked by conservationists for many years and if it wasn’t for the efforts of a group of German aviculturists, who created a breeding programme for the species, it would have been lost forever. In 1995, the Socorro dove conservation breeding programme was formally established when the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) approved it as a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP).”
The Chester Zoo chicks will bolster the insurance population of Socorro doves looked after by avian specialists.
Clare Rafe, the assistant team manager for birds, said:
“It (the hatching) is a big deal. We have several chicks which have successfully reached independence, and the others are on the verge of being fledged.”
Despite their modest appearance, every individual is precious, and the species has unique behaviours.
Unlike other species of doves, Socorro doves do not live in flocks, preferring to pair off or live individually. They also share chick-rearing duties.
Clare added: “It’s a 50-50 arrangement most of the time, but we have found the females will raise their chicks up to a point and then become ready to mate again, so they’ll start raising a new clutch of eggs before the first have fledged.
“It’s very intense for them, but it’s a way of increasing their numbers rapidly – which they need to do to survive. In the wild, they would only have perhaps a two or three-month nesting window between storms and heat waves.
“When that happens, the fathers take over with the older chicks, feeding them and caring for them. The males can be quite territorial and aggressive, which makes pairing them tricky, but we’ve found one of them has transferred that into protectiveness for his chicks.”
Andrew Owen added that the two breeding pairs at Chester Zoo, and their youngsters, are part of a broader effort to boost the species.
He said: “For many years, the Zenaida graysoni population has been managed by Steffan Stadler, Bird Curator from Frankfurt Zoo, who championed the species and led on developing a holistic plan to return the species to the wild. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have extinct species plans that incorporates the Socorro dove and they work closely with Africam Safari, a park in Mexico, to move towards wild reintroductions.
“Without the valuable work zoos do, these species would be lost forever. Our role at Chester Zoo is helping to maintain the insurance population and hopefully, at some point our birds will support the work done by ZSL and Frankfurt, and their descendants will see Socorro Island.”
In the meantime, the chicks will continue to be cared for by bird experts - and their dedicated dads.
Clare added: “We’ll keep looking after these amazing birds. They might look quite plain and brown from a distance, but they have what looks like shimmery blusher on their heads. They have big personalities, too, with the males being a bit aggro – they certainly aren’t peace doves!”
