Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations of rails

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
Share Tweet Email

View assessment score

How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

26%
Certainty

11%
Harms

5%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Source countries

Key messages

A study from an island in Australia found that Lord Howe Island woodhens Tricholimnas sylvestris successfully bred in captivity, with 66 chicks being produced over four years from three pairs of adults.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A study on Lord Howe Island, Australia, between 1980 and 1983 (Miller & Mullette 1985) found that Lord Howe Island woodhens, Tricholimnas sylvestris, successfully reproduced in a purpose-built breeding centre. In 1980, the only three healthy adult pairs of woodhen were taken into captivity and they produced 66 chicks which were reared in captivity. This study also describes the impact of predator control (see ‘Control mammalian predators on islands’) and release of captive-bred individuals (see ‘Release captive-bred individuals’).
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Miller B. & Mullette K.J. (1985) Rehabilitation of an endangered Australian bird: the Lord Howe Island woodhen Tricholimnas sylvestris (Sclater). Biological Conservation, 34, 55-95

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Can captive breeding have deleterious effects on individual fitness? Action Link	Evidence not assessed	3	Synopsis Link
Artificially incubate and hand-rear penguins in captivity Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	2	Synopsis Link
Artificially incubate and hand-rear seabirds in captivity Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	5	Synopsis Link