A 1965 pigeon count revealed a shocking Queensland population collapse

A couple, Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne, travelled north from Queensland’s Gold Coast to Hinchinbrook Island, a place they knew largely through photographs. They would return many times, eventually making the Cardwell area their home and becoming closely associated with its forests, wetlands and wildlife. Among the animals that caught their attention were pied imperial-pigeons, which gathered on North Brook Island to breed but faced a very different future from the one their numbers might suggest today. The couple’s response was practical: watch the birds, record their numbers and challenge the shooting and habitat loss that were pushing the colony towards collapse.North Brook Island’s pigeon count revealed a population in decline in 1965North Brook Island sits off the coast near Cardwell, within the small Brook Islands group east of Hinchinbrook Island. For part of the year, it becomes a breeding ground for pied imperial-pigeons, also known as Torresian imperial-pigeons. The birds travel between their island nesting grounds and the mainland, where they feed on rainforest fruits before returning to the colony.When the Thorsbornes first encountered the birds, they were not simply l...