A bird in the bush is worth more in the case of the Ko'Ko', the Chamorro name for the Guam rail. Its a rare bird by anyone's standard.

I had the distinct privilege of claiming the birds as my baggage from Guam to Rota on Monday, January 8, 2001. The whole thing started when I missed my flight to Rota at 8 a.m. that day. I got busy working at my computer that until Laila Younis, the General Manager of the Guam Variety, called and asked, "R, where are you?" My gallant effort to get to the airport in time failed, so she booked me on a later flight at 12:30 pm.

It was a gloomy day and my husband suggested I take any excuse not to fly under such conditions. The winds he told me, "...kicked up to 35 knots according to Fleet Weather Central, indicating a storm is brewing around Guam."

Undisturbed by the news I told Bob, "If the birds fly, I fly," and I would decide what to do based on the Department of Aquatic Wildlife and Resources determination on the safety of flying the Ko'ko'. Because of the inclement whether, DAWR decided not to send the birds up to Rota earlier and Suzanne and the team waited anxiously for the decision. Strangely enough, the weather dictated that I include the birds as part of my baggage that afternoon. In this case, being late was on time.

It was exciting to have been part of an historic effort and the experience taught me the value of appreciating creation and how we can have a small part in BIG things if we make ourselves available.

DAWR scheduled a three day release effort in Rota which started on Monday and ends today. The program has been releasing Ko'ko' for sometime now, but this effort was the first in 2001. Many scientists from DAWR, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and mainland zoos planned and worked hard to share in this event; in some cases planning two years in advance to take part in the release program.

I fully appreciate the importance of releasing the birds into the wild. I was captivated and learned so much by observing how interdependent man, animal and plants are. Admittedly, I didn't like science much as a subject, (telling Suzanne Medina, a biologist with DAWR) I could never pronounce the scientific names attached to animal and plants. On the other hand, Suzanne's command of the names and scientific lingo convinced me she sang them as nursery rhymes.

It was a strange day in the sense that many of my comments were tempered with clichés using bird remarks and realizing how my speech had an effect in the scheme of what I was involved in. My use of the English language has been modified once more to reflect the proper attitude towards birds. Making comments like, "Killing two birds with one stone," is not consistent with preserving them and releasing them in the wild to encourage their survival as a species. And, I also learned the falsity of the saying, 'One bird in the hand is not worth two in the bush.'

The bird in the bush is worth more. 

On the way up to the release site Suzanne told me that the birds I brought along as baggage were going to be released without transmitters and that made me more proud of the fact that I was participating in the event. I realize that in the effort to understand how the birds disperse and populate, there must exist some tracking device to record their activities and I don't have a problem with that. But as a free spirit, I was proud that the birds I escorted to Rota would be set free in every regard. That was a personal victory for me. 

While on Rota, Suzanne and Ann McCaffrey, with the Bronx Zoo and Bill McDowell from the another  zoo in the United States were helpful in educating me on the value of preserving birds and how the natural balance demands their existence.

It was a very spiritual experience and to have participated in releasing the birds, three myself, was a delight. I also reveled in the fact that all the birds released into the wild by the others went in one direction and the three that I released, even the one that slipped from my hands, all went the opposite direction doing their own thing. That was so Rlene, we all started to laugh.

The first one I released was a female and when I let her go, she walked out of my hands and strutted around as if to check us out. She didn't spook like the others and headed for the hills almost in difference to the mold. My kind of bird.

The success of the Ko'ko' birds reintroduction to the wild shows with the growing number of Ko'ko birds seen on Rota. Many of them stay close to the area they were released and despite first thought, they prefer to stay in the plains and tall grass as opposed to the hill side.

The birds lay 3 to 6 eggs a clutch and are ready to breed two weeks after the chicks are born. The Ko'ko' bird is a breeding machine and while the males are just juvenile. That is exciting news and hopefully we will all be around to see the return of the Ko'ko' bird in numbers we once saw. 

Rota has a good thing going with their bird sanctuary. What a marvelous place to visit and where I saw a colony of the Red Footed Booby nesting on tree tops; the colorful Marianas Kingfisher, the obnoxious Drango to mention a few.

I also spotted a colony of rare birds while there meandering through the boonies and traversing all about the grasslands and coastal areas. They were mostly biologists and a few zoologist among them. This is what they looked like.