One of the world’s rarest seabirds is on the verge of extinction. The Chatham Island Taiko, native to Chatham Island off the coast of New Zealand, has suffered an 80% reduction in population over the last 40 years. Scientists believe only 8 to 15 breeding pairs exist in the wild.

A number of factors have contributed to the decline of the Taiko — including the introduction of non-native species that compete for the Taiko’s nesting burrows — but a new study shows a much more urgent challenge: male Taikos can’t find females with which to mate. According to a report by ScienceDaily:

Molecular analysis of the Critically Endangered Magenta Petrel Pterodroma magentae (also known as the Chatham Island Taiko) discovered that 95% of non-breeding adults were male. This suggests that critically low population levels may be causing male birds difficulty in attracting a mate. Their calls are too spread out to attract the infrequent females which pass by.

Fortunately, now that researchers have pinpointed the deficiency, efforts to prevent extinction can begin. Already, conservationists have established a breeding colony protected by a predator-proof fence. There, scientists hope to boost Taiko density levels by translocating chicks and using calls to attract more adult birds.

Whether the Taiko population increases remains to be seen. However, the plight of the bird raises an important conservation issue: not all endangered species attract the kind of media attention devoted to animals like the polar bear or the gray wolf.

In a recent Nature podcast, documentary filmmaker Allison Argo explains the importance of protecting the lesser-known endangered species. “It’s the big species that tend to get a lot of screen time. Species that are smaller so often fall through the cracks or just get overlooked,” Argo says. “The smaller creatures [are] equally important in our world; they’re equally irreplaceable.”

You can learn more about two of those small creatures — the red knot and the horseshoe crab — at Nature online.