Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island

An unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Pitcairn Group, revealed that even temporary reductions in invasive rat populations can benefit some endemic bird species. The study found that the Henderson Reed Warbler and Henderson Fruit Dove showed significant population increases post-eradication attempts, likely due to reduced predation pressure and competition for fruit, respectively. However, natural factors like a prolonged drought may have also influenced these trends, complicating definitive attribution of recovery to rodent reduction alone. Researchers used point counts at 25 locations over four years (2011–2015) and binomial mixture models to account for detection probabilities, emphasizing the need for robust pre- and post-management monitoring to clarify species responses in such operations.

BOND, A. L., BROOKE, M. D. L., CUTHBERT, R. J., LAVERS, J. L., MCCLELLAND, G. T. W., CHURCHYARD, T., DONALDSON, A., DUFFIELD, N., FORREST, A., HARRISON, G., MACKINNON, L., PROUD, T., SKINNER, A., TORR, N., VICKERY, J. A., & OPPEL, S. (2018). Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island. Bird Conservation International, 29(1), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270918000072