Monitoring rare birds, giant tortoises, and night-time wildlife
It’s early morning on Cousin Island. Chris Tagg, the man managing conservation activities on the island, walks barefooted on the guano-hardened forest floor. Armed with a clipboard and smartphone, he whistles, emitting a series of musical notes. Suddenly, black and white birds appear and observe him with curiosity. He swiftly captures them on camera and notes their distinguishing color-coded rings, used to identify the birds and the island they are on, and the territories they occupy.
The bird in question is the charismatic Seychelles Magpie Robin Copsychus sechellarum or Pi Santez in Creole. Colloquially known as SMR on the island, its population is constantly under watch.
Once one of the rarest birds in the world with less than twenty birds alive in the 1990s on Fregate Island, its population has rebounded to five hundred birds on five islands due to conservation action.
Today, visitors to Cousin Island can see the rare bird and marvel at its recovery. The ground-feeding birds, which forage through leaf litter to feed on invertebrates, quickly hop to the ground when wardens turn the soil during a guided tour.
The Seychelles magpie robin is a rare bird
But for Chris, extends beyond mere observation; it is a matter of life and death.
“We check the rings to identify them. This lets us know who’s alive, where they are, and who the dominant birds are. We look at their behaviour, health, and for evidence of breeding. Recently, we have seen birds courting, a sign that breeding is imminent,” he says.
“We also use smartphones to record behaviour, close-ups, and interactions. The footage can be replayed, slowed down, and paused to assess the bird. Using slow-motion footage, for example, I captured an exchange between a dominant and a subordinate bird, which was awesome!”
SMRs are highly territorial, with disputes common. “Territories have a nesting dominant pair with subordinates composed of previous chicks and other birds. On this occasion, the dominant bird came over and snapped at the subordinate, and the other bird immediately submitted,” Tagg continues.
Magpie Robins are not the only birds on the Special Reserve’s busy schedule. “Some mornings, we go out and do morning censuses for seabirds, skinks, geckos, and giant tortoises,” he adds.
Chris marking a juvenile Aldabra Giant Tortoise for the annual census
As part of the yearly census, Aldabra Giant Tortoises are located, measured, and marked. Tortoises larger than 70cm have two metal plates affixed to their shells. Tortoises less than 70cm get marked with an alphanumeric code. This is used each year to monitor growth and movement.
Some censuses such as those for seabirds occur at night. This includes censuses for Wedge-tailed and Tropical Shearwaters.
It is the perfect opportunity to observe some often unseen nocturnal species, such as whip scorpions, found near the island’s well, and giant millipedes.
“You can see many Seychelles giant millipedes (Sechelleptus seychellarum) in the hill area of Cousin covered by granitic rocks. They are detritivores feeding on dead plant life. Unlike centipedes, they do not bite and are harmless, and sometimes we pick them up to look.”
But, perhaps, the most favourite time on the island is turtle nesting season. And with the first turtles coming up this month, Tagg is looking forward to a busy and exciting six months ahead.