Release of Captive-Reared or Translocated Endangered Birds: What Do We Need to Know?

Attempts to evaluate the success of endangeredspecies reintroduction programs are frustrated by a lack of reliable information on releases of either endangered or nonendangered species.Although many programs have attempted to establish or augment wild populations with captive-reared or wild-caught birds (Williams 1977), there are few published accounts that allow quantitative statements on the success of releases and the role played by animals subjected to different rearing and release protocols (Berger 1978, Kear and Berger !980).This makes it difficult to assess accurately the status of these species, or to evaluate the influence of various management actions.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereafter USFWS) lists 220 taxa of birds as threatened or en-