Animal of the Week, January 8, 2019 — probably the rarest bird in the world

This week's animal currently holds the title of the rarest bird in the world. The Madagascar pochard (Aythya innotata) is an unassuming brown duck, so unremarkable in appearance it went unremarked for years. Long thought to be a Madagascan wing of the ferruginous duck family, it was not recognised as a distinct species until 1894. 100 years later, by the mid-1990s the Madagascar pochard was thought to be extinct. Then, in 2006 a tiny remnant population was discovered on a remote lake in Madagascar.

Lake Matsaborimena, where the nine adults and a handful of chicks clung to life was far from ideal and the dwindling population would likely have vanished without intervention. Clutches of eggs were collected from the wild and hand-reared in captivity. In late December, 21 birds were released onto Lake Sofia, a more suitable habitat. Conservationists from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, The Peregrine Fund and the Government of Madagascar have worked with local communities to give the reintroduced birds the best chance.

With around about 90 individuals in the world, there's probably no rarer bird. Other thoroughly uncommon birds includ the Spix macaw, which has a similar number, all in captivity, and the kakapo, the flightless New Zealand parrot which is now up to about 130 birds on predator free island refuges surrounding New Zealand.