Posts Tagged ‘Tropical Bird House’

Apr
27

Did Someone Rub Hamburgers on the Windows?

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Birds

At the Houston Zoo, one of the unique difficulties managing birds in the Tropical Bird House comes from our glass-fronted exhibits.  While they are fantastic for the guest experience, glass is not something birds ‘get’ without a little help from their keepers. 

Every time we introduce a new bird to an exhibit, we soap the exhibit window.  This simply means we go out to the front of the exhibit with a bowl of water, some bars of Dial soap, and we smear the soap over the window until it becomes opaque. 

Keeper Jeremy preparing a window for a bird transfer in the Tropical Bird House.

Guests can still see into the exhibit, and the new birds can learn exactly where that glass is.  After a week or so, we remove the soap. 

A soaped window

This also varies depending on what type of bird we are introducing or moving.  Doves aren’t known for their mental acuity, so any time we move a dove into an exhibit, even if it was just out of the exhibit for a couple days, we soap the windows.  Starlings and corvids, on the other hand, learn the boundaries of their exhibit a little faster. 

I have worked in the Tropical Bird House for about six years now, and although we have signs that explain why the windows are so foggy, I have heard some wonderful explanations from guests for the cloudy windows:

1. ”It’s condensation on the window.”  This is the most common explanation I overhear.  It is very humid in the Bird House, because tropical birds really dig humidity, so this is probably the most valid guess.

2. “Someone rubbed ice cream cones all over the window”. It could happen.

3. “There are better ways to clean a window than that!”  It really would be a labor intensive way to clean windows, but they do sparkle after we remove that soap!

4. “Someone rubbed hamburger grease all over the windows!” This is my favorite, by far.  The bird house is near a concessions area, and I think the aromas imbed into our subconcious, because I often find myself day dreaming of a juicy burger as well. 

Next time you visit the zoo, make sure to stroll through the Tropical Bird House.  If you see a hazy window, you’ll be in the know!

Unfortunately, our exhibits in the bird house are not the only place where birds need a little help from humans to avoid collisions.  Want to make sure your windows are safe for our feathered friends?  Check out this helpful website!

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Mar
16

Garden Gnomes Invade the Houston Zoo!

Posted by in Birds

Actually, the Houston Zoo‘s Tropical Bird House has been the happy host of a garden gnome infestation for several years now. With the recent popularity of the movie Gnomeo and Juliet, we thought it may be time to explain ourselves. 

It all began around four years ago, when Bird House keepers decided to completely renovate our rehabilitated bird exhibit.  An exhibit that was once entirely beach themed was transformed into a cute backyard area to display our native rehabilitated birds. It takes a massive amount of work to change an exhibit’s theme. Wheelbarrows full of sand were removed, all the walls repainted, an artificial tree was created entirely from fallen tree branches scavenged from zoo grounds, plants were added, as well as a fence, a birdbath, and many more back-breaking wheelbarrows full of new substrate (we use potting soil). 

As we all know, there is a certain elation that comes with the completion of a large, difficult project.  Often, this elation leads to giddiness, and in our case, goofiness.  In this state, a garden gnome was the perfect addition to our beautiful new backyard exhibit. 

The gnome that started it all

With this innocent and quiet start, this gnome remained a one of a kind specimen in the Tropical Bird House for several years. That all changed when a new bird keeper admitted that her garden gnome collection had exceeded the space she had available. Thus, the Tropical Bird House’s Garden Gnome Troop came to be. There are now a total of eight garden gnomes skulking in our exhibits.  Some are hidden away with great stealth and take some genuine searching to spot, while others are out in plain view. 

A sneaky gnome peeking from behind some plants

The birds truly don't seem to notice

This little bit of whimsy serves at least two purposes. First of all, the staff find it highly amusing, and it is so very vital to add a little mirth to your daily routine. More importantly, the gnomes have been a huge hit with the guests! They have been used in school group scavenger hunts, and the “Gnomeo!” shouts of recognition are almost as frequent as “Nemo!” in an aquarium. 

As a bird keeper, I know just what amazing animals birds are. I have been working with birds for about eight years now, and I am still continuously floored by their beauty, behavior, intelligence and physical capabilities.  I am also quite aware that not all of our guests feel this way about birds. Honestly, it is not easy to compete with elephants and lions for attention from our zoo guests when you are a bird that weighs less than a few coins. I am, however, convinced that the more guests learn about birds, the more they love and appreciate them. 

The gnomes slow guests down as they travel through the Tropical Bird House.  Once they notice that first gnome, they search for one in each exhibit. Along the way, they see some gorgeous birds that they may have missed if they weren’t on the prowl for a goofy garden decoration. It is our fun and quirky way of saying, “Slow down and take a better look!” 

Next time you’re at the zoo, visit our gnome collection in the Tropical Bird House.  Who knows, you may also see a few birds!

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Mar
07

Birds of a Feather: An Introduction!

Posted by in Birds

From the Ostrich, weighing up to 340 pounds, to the Bee Hummingbird, tipping the scales at approximately 2 grams (yes, that’s less than a penny), birds truly define diversity.

Here at the Houston Zoo, we boast ostriches, and our smallest bird is the Star Finch, weighing in at 9 grams, almost two nickels! The variety of birds that can be found on zoo grounds is astounding. Our birds range from all over the globe, eat everything from seeds and nuts to nectar, carrion or fruit, and come in a spectrum of shapes and sizes. Within the Tropical Bird House alone,  it is not difficult to list (at least) one bird for every color of the rainbow. Remember Roy G. Biv? Let’s take a look at the rainbow through a Houston Zoo bird filter:

Red:

A Northern Cardinal is as red as you can get!

Orange:

It's in the name! An Orange Bishop.

Yellow:

Yet another bishop, a Yellow-crowned Bishop!

Green:

A beautiful Emerald Starling

Blue:

The Bay-headed Tanager has a brilliant blue belly.

Indigo:

Indigo is a difficult color to capture, unless you're a Gold-breasted Starling.

Violet:

Once again, the name gives it away--a Violet-backed Tanager!

Many of our birds boast numerous colors, as our Hawk-headed Parrots illustrate:

Peanuts are a favorite

To put it simply, birds are amazing animals.  The colors alone seal the deal on our fascination.  We have feathers to thank for all that beauty and so many gorgeous hues.  Feathers not only help insulate and protect the bird’s skin, provide the smooth surface necessary for flight, and show-case colors and patterns important to camouflage and social behavior, but are a marvel of the natural world, the most prominently recognized feature of a bird’s anatomy, and unique to birds alone.

Through a short series of blogs, I hope to show you just how impressive they are, from structure, to shape, color, strength and function. I will be starting from the skin up, describing how birds grow feathers, and what patterns feather growth takes right below the skin. 

Until then, I’ll leave you with these amazing feather facts to consider:

The feathers of a bird commonly weigh only 5 to 10 % of a bird’s weight.  This is still usually 2 to 3 times heavier than the  bird’s bones.

The world’s smallest feathers are from the eyelids of the Bee Hummingbird–1/63 of an inch, while a peacock’s tail feathers are 5 feet long.

The Tundra Swan boasts one of the highest numbers of feathers at 25,216.  A vast majority of those feathers were found on the head and neck.  Not only that, but someone actually counted them.  Feathers are a serious business.

**Photos by Benjamin King and Megan Neal**

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Jun
27

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered Species,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals: Our Furry (and Hairy!) Friends,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptiles,Swap Shop

Blue Faced Honeyeater Photo courtesy of: www.plantbiology.siu.edu

Honeyeaters are important pollinators of many Australian flowering plants.  All 170 species of honeyeaters have a unique adaptation:  a long tongue with a brush-like tip that they use to get nectar from flowers.  The tongue can be extended into the nectar about 10 times per second!

Honeyeaters aren’t the only birds that help pollinate.  Honeycreepers, sunbirds, Brush-tongued parrots, and hummingbirds are just a few of the birds all over the world who are pollinators.  There are 2,000 bird species globally that feed on nectar, the insects, and the spiders associated with nectar bearing flowers. 

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join the Houston Zoo in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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We're behind the scenes with Keeper Chris learning about turtles...read all about it! http://t.co/BMvDk5lMR7