Picture a robin in your head. I bet it has a bright red breast, right? I mean, that's what makes a robin a robin, isn't it?
Nope. In fact, New Zealand's Chatham Islands are home to a small population of all-black robin. The only part of them that isn't black or very dark brown is the bottoms of their feet, which are yellowish.
But being native to an isolated island chain without a lot of natural predators didn't set these little goth dudes up for success once invasive species like cats and rats began to move into their habitat.
Being iffy fliers living near the forest ground made them easy pray.
Her name was Old Blue, and she is the mother and grandmother of every living black robin today, which number over 250.
Knowing that many bird species will lay another clutch of eggs if their first is lost, Dr. Merton tried moving Old Blue's eggs to be "fostered" in the nests of native tomtits.
Old Blue laid more eggs to replace them and the race to increase the population, and the number of mature females, began.
Though they were once so close to extinction, these round fighters got upgraded to Endangered status on the IUCN Red List, with a happy upward arrow beside their population numbers.
There is still a lot of work to be done, but these little dudes are up for the challenge.
