The Samoa Conservation Society says a pigeon with a unique hooked beak, the Manumea, is considered critically endangered with only a few hundred of them left.
The body says it is threatened by hunting, destruction of forest habitat from logging and development pressures and from invasive species, such as rats and cats, which feed on its eggs and young.
The society has got a 3 year grant from the British government to try and save the bird.
It is to work in partnership with Samoa's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Australian National University and others.
The project will involve working with local communities to locate where the Manumea can still be found, to raise awareness about its current status and to take actions to save it.
Samoa pigeon, Manumea Photo: RNZI
