The Seychelles Warbler is a world famous example of how science and conservation can go hand-in-hand. This endemic bird provides an exceptional, natural system in which to study important questions relating to animal health, evolution and ecology.
Working in conjunction with Nature Seychelles, research on the Seychelles warbler is led by Profs. David Richardson (University of East Anglia, UK), Jan Komdeur (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), Terry Burke (University of Sheffield, UK) and Dr Hannah Dugdale (University of Leeds). Jan Komdeur has been working on the Seychelles warbler since 1988 and, with BirdLife International, was instrumental in their translocation to Aride and Cousine. Since 1997 David Richardson has been running the fieldwork and managed this component of the warbler translocations to Denis and Fregate Islands. Thus the warbler’s conservation is also a key part of the groups work. Learn more: http://seychelles-warbler-project.group.shef.ac.uk/
Continuous intensive monitoring and research spanning over 30 has allowed the team to investigate many aspects in the warbler, including:
The evolution and ecology of cooperative breeding
- Inbreeding problems and inbreeding avoidance
- Mate choice and infidelity
- Disease resistance
- The causes and consequences of ageing
- The genomic impact of translocations
The Seychelles Warbler Research Group has given scientific and public talks both locally and throughout the world and has published more than 80 papers in leading journals on aspects of the warblers’ biology. This is now the most extensive, productive and high-profile research program to be undertaken on an island bird
See the
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Seychelles Warbler Species Action Plan
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News items:
The most amazing conservation success story in Seychelles
Universities invest in Seychelles Warbler research
Seychelles warbler: infidelity increases offspring survival
Seychelles Warbler: saved from extinction
Return of the Seychelles Warbler
Publications Nature Seychelles eLibrary
Van de Crommenacker et al. 2011.
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Spatio-temporal variation in territory quality and oxidative status: a natural experiment in the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis)
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. Journal of Animal Ecology 2011 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01792.x
J. Komdeur et al.. 2004.
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Why Seychelles Warblers fail to recolonize nearby islands: unwilling or unable to fly there?
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2004 British Ornithologists’ Union
Thor Veen, David S. Richardson, Karen Blaakmeer, and Jan Komdeur. 2000.
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Experimental evidence for innate predator recognition in the Seychelles warbler
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. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (2000) 267, 2253^2258
Richardson et al. 2003.
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Sex-specific associative learning cues and inclusive fitness benefits in the Seychelles warbler
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. J . EVOL . BIOL. 16 ( 2003) 854–861
Diamond, A.W. 1980.
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Seasonality, population structure and breeding ecology of the Seychelles Brush Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis.
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Proc. V Pan- Afr. Orn. Congr.: 253-266
See also an extensive publications list at the University of Sheffield
however large knowledge gaps remain. With this in mind Nature Seychelles with backing from the Norwegian Embassy and Airtel Seychelles launched the Seychelles Seabird Group.
recovery programme in 1990 with only 23 birds on one island. In 1990 the SMR Recovery Programme was launched in response to a collapse in numbers.
