Our Mascot
PIC’s mascot, Siheky, is a caricature of the nearly extinct Micronesian Kingfisher from the island of Guam.
Siheky is a name derived from an old `fable` which tells of a village woman who always talked loudly and made trouble. The taotaomo’na then turned her into the first `sihek`...!
Here at PIC, our goal is to preserve and increase awareness for this species by creating a mascot that not only serves as an iconic symbol, but also creates familiarity with the near extinct bird.
As of June 2003, 60 sihek survive in captivity in 11 institutions within the continental United States, and 3 were recently transferred to a new facility on Guam. The sihek has a recovery priority number of 3 on a scale of 1 (highest) to 18 (lowest), reflecting a high degree of threat, strong prospects for recovery, and its taxonomic status as a subspecies.
The Legend of Siheky
Chamorro stories tell of a village woman who was always talking loudly and making trouble. She wore an orange kerchief and a blue dress with a white apron. An angry "taotaomo'na" (spirit of Chamorro ancestors) then turned the woman into the first sihek. Her clothing became the colors of the female sihek. Now, the unhappy bird calls loudly when people are near.
Our subspecies of sihek is found only on Guam and nowhere else. Other subspecies still remain in Palau and Pohnpei. Another species, the Collared Kingfisher (Halcyon chloris), occurs on many of the neighboring Mariana Islands.
