On an isolated, mostly uninhabited atoll thousands of miles away from Guam, nine endangered Sihek continue to spread their wings in the wild.

They were trans-located to Palmyra Atoll for the Sihek Recovery Program back in august. 

These vibrant birds are 'flourishing' in the tropical forests of this national wildlife refuge, away from the invasive brown tree snakes, according to these experts.

“There haven’t been any wild Sihek as we know for over 36 years so this is really our first chance to see the species back out in a wild setting. It's an incredible opportunity to learn as much as we possibly can about them,” said Caitlin Andrews, Bird Conservation Specialist. 

Andrews, alongside Senior Bird Conservation Specialist Kayla Baker, and Guam Department of Agriculture’s Division of Aquatics and Wildlife Resources Biologist Tomona Lapitan make up the newest team at Palmyra.  

“It's amazing, the opportunity to come out here and pursue a career as a biologist, work and learn alongside a wonderful team right here, and especially to see and study these birds out in the wild as it’s a native species close to home,” said Lapitan. 

They continue to observe the birds’ behavior to see how well they transition from zoos to the wild. 

“All of that information is going to feed into future plans to hopefully return them to Guam, so we really hope that Palmyra is a stepping stone to that next step back home,” said Andrews. 

To do so, each bird was fitted with a tiny radio tracker but the transmitters died several weeks earlier than planned. 

It's why the Baker said they’re currently attempting to recapture the Sihek to give them new tags. 

“It’s going okay so far. We haven’t been successful in capturing them, but we have been able to lure them down close to the nets. So we've seen three birds so far around the nets. They’re displaying lots of wonderful behavior and they seem to be thriving. How they respond to the audio lures and the nets is helping to inform our decision making going forward so we’re going to keep at it and keep trying everyday,” said Baker. 

‘Everyday’ for Baker is longer than most. 

She plans to stay in Palmyra for several years, keeping a close eye on the Sihek in hopes they will establish a successful breeding population. 

Her motivation?

“Mainly the driving factor is having spent four years in Guam and working with Guam starlings, hearing how quiet the landscape was and how devastating the brown tree snakes are. That was very motivating for me to try to use my skills in a way to give back to my community that was so welcoming to me during my time there,” Baker said. 

While Andrews and Lapitan will be leaving in the coming months and weeks respectively, it's certainly not goodbye. 

“Having the Sihek out here is really the motivating factor. Seeing them out here in the wild gives us a glimpse of the future, of one day seeing the Sihek flying in the skies of Guam again,” said Lapitan.