Natural History Wanderings

The New York  Times reported

Researchers are trying a new strategy to reintroduce Hawaiian crows, which have been extinct in the wild for two decades.

When the aviary door swung open, offering the five young birds their first taste of freedom, they took note but stayed put at first, watchful.

The glossy black birds are among only about 110 ʻalalā, or Hawaiian crows, left on the planet. Their species has been extinct in the wild for two decades, and previous efforts to reintroduce them have yielded only lessons. In November, a group of nonprofit, state and federal partners tried again, but with a twist: Instead of returning the crows to their native range, the forests of the Big Island, the team released them on Maui.

Read more at They Were the Last of Their Kind, in Captivity. Can 5 Survive the Wild?