Listening for the Firecrown: A Juan Fernández Firecrown Conservation Update
In January 2025, the International Hummingbird Society provided $4,000 to Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge to support its long-term conservation work for the Critically Endangered Juan Fernández Firecrown on Robinson Crusoe Island.
In September, Peter Hodum and the Oikonos team provided IHS with an update on how that support was being put to work, and there is encouraging progress to share.
photo provided by Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge
Listening Across Robinson Crusoe Island
With help from the IHS contribution and matching funding, Oikonos purchased 20 AudioMoth acoustic recorders and deployed them in potential Firecrown habitat throughout the island.
These small devices allow researchers to listen for Firecrowns even when people cannot physically be in the field. Over time, the recordings can help researchers better understand where Firecrowns are occurring, their relative abundance throughout the year, and potentially identify breeding areas that have not previously been documented.
The photographs provided by Oikonos show the local team carrying and installing these recorders deep within the native forests of Robinson Crusoe Island.
photo provided by Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge
Supporting Research on the Ground
IHS funding is also helping support Oikonos' local conservation team during the Firecrown breeding season, including nest monitoring in the important breeding habitat of Plazoleta El Yunque, an area I had the opportunity to visit firsthand.
The monitoring does not end when the recordings are collected. Oikonos is also working with Dr. Jorge Tomasevic of Universidad Austral de Chile to analyze the acoustic data and turn thousands of hours of forest sounds into useful conservation information.
For me, this is another example of what hummingbird conservation actually looks like.
Sometimes it means restoring habitat. Sometimes it means monitoring nests. And sometimes it means placing small recording devices throughout a remote island and simply listening.
Each piece helps us better understand what the Juan Fernández Firecrown needs to survive.
Help Anthony Reach the Next At-Risk Hummingbird
Like my journey to Robinson Crusoe Island to photograph the Juan Fernández Firecrown, many of the hummingbirds still ahead require travel into remote and difficult-to-reach regions across the Americas.
Your sponsorship helps make these expeditions possible, allowing me to reach and document these species through photography and video, share their stories, and bring greater attention to the challenges facing their survival.
Each expedition is about more than creating a photograph. It is about documenting a species, the habitat it depends upon, and the conservation story surrounding its future.
Help me continue the journey and reach the next hummingbird that needs its story told.
More on Juan Fernández Firecrown Conservation
Follow the ongoing research, monitoring, habitat work, and conservation efforts helping protect this remarkable hummingbird found only on Robinson Crusoe Island.
