Items12The creator’s order
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Anacapa IslandTen years after black rats were removed, the restoration trustees reported four times as many Scripps's murrelet nests. They also recorded ashy storm petrels nesting on the island. The murrelet in the photo is on a nest in a sea cave, one of the places the survey team had to check.0 - 2
Hawadax IslandTufted puffins were recorded nesting here in 2013, the first such record on Hawadax. After Norway rats were removed, researchers also documented black oystercatchers and glaucous-winged gulls producing chicks. The two observations tell different parts of the recovery story. One establishes a new…0 - 3
LundyThe 2001 survey estimated 297 pairs of Manx shearwaters. By the 2023 census the observatory reported about 25,000 individuals, a different unit that still gives you a feel for the scale of the recovery. Lundy was declared rat-free in 2006, and European storm petrels were first confirmed breeding in…0 - 4
Macquarie IslandGray petrels were recorded back on Macquarie in 1999 as feral cat control progressed. Their comeback continued after rats, mice, and rabbits were removed. The Australian Antarctic Program links part of that improvement to tussock growing back after rabbit grazing ended. Finding a bird back on the…0 - 5
Ascension IslandAfter feral cats were removed, researchers recorded five seabird species recolonizing the main island in small numbers. Sooty terns, which had kept nesting there, also benefited. Researchers found far fewer dead adult terns at their colonies after the cats were gone. The photo shows sooty terns at…0 - 6
South GeorgiaEarly signs came from King Edward Cove. After rats were removed from its shores, researchers went from seeing Wilson's storm petrels in the low tens to routinely seeing hundreds five years later. Those observations show more birds using the area, while a nest count would answer a different question.0 - 7
St Agnes and GughResidents helped restore two inhabited islands for breeding seabirds. After rat removal began in 2013, Manx shearwater chicks fledged on St Agnes and Gugh for the first time in living memory. Checks by the community continued after the islands were declared rat-free in 2015.0 - 8
Ramsey IslandManx shearwaters nest in burrows, so a steep grassy slope can hide a breeding colony. On Ramsey the RSPB recorded the shearwaters recovering after brown rats were removed. This is an island to compare with Lundy if you want to see how the same bird benefited from similar work in two different…0 - 9
Lord Howe IslandBlack-winged petrels were already nesting here, but relatively few attempts succeeded. The island board reported an increase in breeding success from 2.5% to more than 50% following rodent removal. It's a reminder that the most important change at a colony can happen inside burrows you're already…0 - 10
Palmyra AtollAfter rats were removed in 2011, conservationists later used seabird calls and decoys to draw birds back. A gray-backed tern chick was one of the first encouraging signs. Palmyra shows why a safe island can still need help bringing birds back to breed.0
