VogelPark Walsrode Birdpark's Asian Orioles Zoo and Aquarium Visitor News

VogelPark Walsrode Birdpark's Asian Orioles

Orioles are popular birds due to their stunning colours and fabulous voice. The family are distributed from Africa to Australia in around 26 species. Some species are migratory and others not, the majority of species are tropical residents. Quite a high number of the species look very similar and recent speculations, that there may be cryptic species to be identified among the known subspecies, still need further research in order to be confirmed.

For almost all species it is known that the individual bird spend most of the year living alone and only for the breeding period the pair actually join forced. How frequently the same, or a strange, partner is selected from season to season is virtually unknown.

Orioles are rare in aviculture and breeding results are very infrequent and consistent breeding success has hardly ever been reported for any species.
One of the main issues with this species are the aggressive behaviour often displayed by birds in captivity. It has often been reported that males kill females or that the birds just do not tolerate each others company. Often the praxis of separating the birds for the bulk of the year is difficult to realize in most setups.
The birds thrive well in an aviary on their own or with less aggressive species on a varied diet consisting to 60 percent of a frugivores diet and the rest insectivores with plenty live-food and some meat. They do not seem to be particular sensitive to iron-storage-disease.

A few species of Asian Orioles are still maintained at the VogelPark Walsrode some such as the Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) and the Yellow-mantled Oriole (Oriolus xanthonotus) which are both unfortunately limited to single birds.

At least in one species the Celebes Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis celebensis) we have managed to achieve at least some repeated success in our large Indonesian exhibit, the Nusantara Rainforest. The first chick successfully fledged in 2004 and another in 2005 in both cases without even detecting the location of the nest. In 2007 two chicks were reared by the pair from a nest placed at six meter height in a fig tree (Ficus benjamini).
Due to the poor records in sustainable breeding of orioles it is a major concern of ours to maintain the success with this species long-term. We therefore started efforts to optimize the breeding and started to look for unrelated birds with other institutions and breeders.

First step was the precise identification as there are 22 or 23 different subspecies of the Black-naped Oriole which proved to be quite difficult. Initially we had our birds wrongly identified and for a time even considered them to be a different species, the Slender-billed Oriole (Oriolus tennunirostris). The accurate identification was only possible after extensive research and finally settled with the Celebes Black-naped Oriole. The identification of the various subspecies are very difficult although they differ quite extensively. Unfortunately there is only little literature with descriptions available.
We also learned that other institutions were having as much trouble in the identification of the different subspecies as we had and after some time searching for birds we finally found our selves with three very different subspecies in the collection. The large Sula Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis frontalis) and the migratory subspecies from mainland Asia (Oriolus chinensis diffusus) were both additions we had not expected and which did not help the breeding project as both of these subspecies differ considerably in size, behaviour and calls.

In the end we have only been able to find similar birds with one private breeder in Germany and in two zoos in the Czech Republic. Our cooperation has started with the placement of the young birds from the VogelPark Walsrode in the aviaries of the private breeder and will carry on with setting up a monitored breeding effort with other interested zoos.
We have experienced quite a few problems with the DNA sexing of this particular subspecies until now all tested birds have had “female” as test result although there are differences in the brightness of the birds’ plumage and behaviour. A part of the project with this subspecies will also include establishing more precise parameters for sexing and husbandry.

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Irresponsible Board of Management

Maybe , just maybe The Toronto Zoo Board Is In The Middle Of A Financial Crisis And There Is No Place To Go But To City Council like a wayward son go to Mom and Dad for more money...

Although it was made clear by Shelley Carroll (the City's Budget Chief) that the Toronto Zoo has to behave more financially responsible, perhaps the problem is that there is no place else to go. The $250 Million fund-raising plans are a pipe dream (especially after firing the Zoo Foundation), it is not possible to raise admission prices any longer (or face a significant drop in attendance) and the "junkets" (especially to China for the Giant Pandas) by members of the Zoo Board can not be cut significantly for any reason. In other words, there is no place to go but City Council. What a crock! The Toronto Zoo Board needs a reality check, as it has become clear that they do not understand the problems they are facing. Perhaps the thousands of free Zoo passes given to Councillors on the Zoo Board could be cut to zero, perhaps the Zoo Foundation could be re-instated, and perhaps a citizen's advisory committee could be formed to provide much-needed guidance to the existing members of the Board.

This is Proof positive

that citizens should have more direct say in the budget process. Line item veto by a citizen's budget committee might get the desired cuts we must attain. The citizens of Toronto should stand with one voice that we just won't allow a property tax increase this year.

By Latinoboy in TORONTO

Ethyl Mercaptan

I would be quite interested in any reference you might have to the presence of ethyl mercaptan in carrion. Most literature indicates that dimethyl sulfide and methyl mercaptan are the sulfur containing entities involved. I had also thought that vultures, like many carrion eating and inhabiting species (flies, etc) were attracted to the rather bad smell of the nitrogenous materials (cadaverine, putresceine, etc) produced during decomposition.

Ant farms

Very nice ant exhibit! I wrote a small ant farm post with a reference to your article.

Train Business Directory Available for Visitors

A "Train Business Directory" shows over 850 locations near all of the Portland MAX light rail at PortlandLightRail.net.

Happy Birthday, Boomer!

You are a great ambassador for your cousins in the wild, Boomer!

Orangutans are critically endangered because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations.

If nothing is done to protect orangutans, they could be extinct in just a few years!

Your fans can visit the Orangutan Outreach website to make a difference!

Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!
Facebook Cause: http://causes.com/redapes

Venemous snakes?

What is it with people that want to exterminate venemous snakes? If they weren't an integral part of the food chain and ecosystem, they wouldn't be here! Evolution and natural selection has chosen them as survivors! The fact that they are "harmful" to humans is only a result of humans encroaching on their territories and habitats. Be mindful of your surroundings and situation and you can safely live with the so called "harmful" species that we share this planet with!

Local wildlife day

Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.

Local wildlife day

Sadly, a lack of common sense is the trend

What is sad to me is the lack of common sense regarding venomous snakes that seems to becoming more commonplace.

It has become trendy for government agencies to defend venomous snakes, saying they kill rodents, etc., but non-venomous snakes also kill rodents. I have not heard one logical argument as to what a venomous snake contributes to an ecosystem that a non-venomous snake doesn't.

Any non-biased biologist can affirm species extinction has always happened naturally. It's common sense to kill a venomous snake, rather than let it continue breeding and increase the potential for harm.

The unfortunate consequence of naturalists defending venomous snakes is they make them appear so necessary and harmless that both people and agencies--hospitals, for example--do not expect or prepare for snake encounters.

It's doubtful that many hospitals near the snakes stock the expensive antivenin. Governments should help fund snakebite treatment rather than fund snake protection.

Skype Usage

Very cool and novel way to use Skype. Glad to see that people are thinking outside the box with its collaborative application. If it's not too late, you may want to submit this to Skype as a good use of their software for the Skype in business contest they're running.

Shawn
OnState Communications

Word Oceans Day - June 8

And don't forget to "Wear Blue and Tell Two"

Another great way to celebrate World Oceans Day is to wear blue in honor of the ocean and tell people two things they likely don't know about the ocean and two ways they can take action. For more Information check out this website:

WorldOceansDay

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