The link I received in the digest included extra characters. Here it is without them (unless the server is inserting them after the = character) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38B8aDfPjQ
According to the species (Gymnomyza samoensis) recovery plan (see www.sprep.org/att/IRC/eCOPIES/Countries/Samoa/53.pdf), deforestation, including that attributed to major cyclones, is thought to have had the largest effect on these birds. They also have a traditional reputation for being harbingers of death due to their unusual calls. Traditional risk management has included the familiar 'kill the messenger' approach. The executive summary of the recovery plan mysteriously suggests that the birds are feeding on the nectar of introduced trees, although I can't find that claim elsewhere in the document. Also according to the recovery plan (citing ISSG data), Samoa's three rat species "are considered to have arrived before 1924." One of them, Rattus exulans, has presumably been pan-Polynesian for many centuries; the others for perhaps one or two centuries. I can find no data suggesting their ranges or populations are still increasing in Samoa, rendering the "invasive" label somehow even less meaningful than usual. In summary: Two years ago, some kind of rat made off with a 'mao' egg. Maybe it happens all the time, maybe only rarely. It would be interesting to know. Knowing either way would not necessarily improve conservation efforts. Actually, let's just cut to the chase. At YouTube we learn the video was posted to raise money for a PhD project on the putative basis that "introduced rats are having an enormous impact predating chicks and eggs in the nest." Since the student wants money for (among other things) additional cameras to document this predation, it remains unclear whether predation by introduced rats is a major issue. But it already seems to be more than a hypothesis. Given the strong, a priori rat indictment, it is also unclear whether any other finding would be acceptable to the investigators. Skip the extraneous "free video" YouTube step and decide on the merits whether this proposal inspires you to chip in: http://www.petridish.org/projects/saving-an-endangered-bird-the-mao I wonder if rats could learn to associate human activity with food sources. Matthew K Chew Assistant Research Professor Arizona State University School of Life Sciences ASU Center for Biology & Society PO Box 873301 Tempe, AZ 85287-3301 USA Tel 480.965.8422 Fax 480.965.8330 [email protected] or [email protected] http://cbs.asu.edu/people/profiles/chew.php http://asu.academia.edu/MattChew
