This year, we celebrate BirdLife’s 100th anniversary. A century on, BirdLife is a global voice for nature. We work with 117 partners around the globe, with a legacy of protecting the natural world. You are part of that legacy.

You are a lifeline for species on the brink of extinction, like the Fatu Hiva Monarch.

Critically Endangered, only 18 birds remain on its tiny island home in the Pacific. Four are female. As recently as 40 years ago this large flycatcher was abundant in the island’s native forests. But since Black Rats arrived in the 1990’s the population has plummeted. Feral cats and disease also plague this glossy black bird, but the situation could be much worse.

Without the intervention of SOP Manu (BirdLife in French Polynesia), the Fatu Hiva Monarch would almost certainly have gone extinct. An emergency plan set in motion in 2016 has protected the birds that remain. By trapping and neutering rats and cats, and protecting every nest. This is one species with a chance to survive, but so many are at risk.

Lead image, a Fatu Hiva Monarch juvenile and image below an adult feeds a chick, credit © B Ignace