We care for many rare and endangered species here at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, including a little brown bird named Tasi. Tasi is a 4-year-old Guam rail and a marvel, considering that just a few decades ago his species nearly disappeared.
Walking through the forests of Guam the sound is arresting, because it’s silent. But the loud whistle of the Guam rail is returning to the forests of nearby islands, nearly 40 years after the bird was declared extinct in the wild,