The Regent Honey eater bird of Australia is dwindling in numbers and now only 300 are believed to exist in the wild
Now only living in South-eastern Australia, the Regent honeyeater bird, was once common but now it is balancing on the edge of extinction
This native bird of Australia is one of the most known and drastically endangered bird species fighting for survival, not least because of the huge and devastating wildfires that has hit its last remaining habitats in the last years – Wildfires that many considered made worse by climate change (link to posts)
The Regent honeyeater bird feed primary on nectar from Eucalyptus trees and also Mistletoe species. And it plays an important ecological role helping to pollinate the trees and keep the land healthy.
Now the bird also play an important role as a flagship species in restoration projects, that not only help other bird species survive, but hole ecological habitats are being preserved both to save the last 200-300 wild living Regent honeyeater bird.
Habitat restoration is combined with captive breeding and release as scientists and locals do all they can to help move the Regent honeyeater birds in the right direction and away from it’s place on the IUCN list of critically endangered species
Read more on: Wikipedia and Taronga Conservation Society
So few of this yellow and black bird exist in the wild, that they sadly get more and more separated. And now the last remaining Regent honeyeater birds have even started to forget how to sing their songs…
To help them experts try to record their song and play it to Regent honeyeater birds living in captivity, to help the species keep their songs and survive – according to story on BBC
Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt
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Keywords: drawnjournalism, visual journalism, biodiversity, australia, birds, endangered species, illustration, drawing, news, journalistik, tegnetjournalistik, visuel journalistik, visualjournalism drawn journalism
Drawn Journalism by Frits Ahlefeldt 