Please leave all answers and captions in the comment box directly below this blog! 

 Based on the children’s book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, this sculpture can be found in what city? 

The sculpture is so popular, a replica was installed in Moscow as a gift from Barbara Bush to Soviet First Lady Raisa Gorbachev!

Imagine your caption here!

 

These knitted owls were made by our very talented volunteer Margaret.  Did you know that our volunteers and staff aren’t the only talented beings at the zoo? A variety of small animal paintings, complete with information on each artist, will be included in the winner’s prize basket!  This contest keeps getting better and better!

 

 

 Get more Jeffery updates on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first week of our blog contest! Don’t forget, this contest will continue each morning until the first weekend of May, when we host our Bird of Prey Days! Keep competing, and tell your friends!

The next installment of the competition will post at 10 AM Central time, on Monday the 6th of February.  We will also be revealing another part of the prize! 

Now onto our score board:

In first place with 10 points we have Melissa Fellers!

Second place with 8 points and the winner of the caption contest is Wendy!

Third place with 7 points is Carmen Deatherage!

Fourth place with 5 points is Tess Peterson!

Fifth place with 2 points is Paul Medici!  Paul also wins honorable mention in the caption competition, meaning he was JUST shy of tying for first!  We loved his caption from the Godfather movie–Forget the gun, take the cannolis! 

Our caption winner, Wendy gave us this great caption: "Forget the moon, fly me to Savoca!"

 Get more Jeffery updates on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!

PLEASE PUT ALL COMMENTS IN THE BLOG’S COMMENT BOX DIRECTLY BELOW THE TEXT ITSELF!

Fans of Francis Ford Coppola may recognize this little bar, located in what small town? 

Imagine your hilarious caption here!

Thanks for playing, and we’ll be back on Friday!

One of these adorable knitted owls will be just one gift of many in the winner's prize basket!

DISCLAIMER: You cannot win around the world tickets in this contest!

As many of you know, the keepers at the Houston Zoo often get together to present the public with Spotlight on the Species events.  This program allows keepers to bring their most cherished conservation causes to the public.  Lion Fun Day, Vulture Awareness Day, Howler-ween and Pollinator Weekends are just a few of the SOS events we’ve recently hosted.

This year, on the first weekend of May, we’re kicking it up a notch!  Three, count them, THREE different zoo departments are coming together to bring you the Birds of Prey Days!

Ever wanted to meet an eagle face to face or wonder just how far a hawk can see? Want owls hanging out in your yard? Would you like to learn about falconry, which has been practiced for approximately FOUR THOUSAND years?? Throughout the following months, we will provide you with more specifics about our event, but right now, I’d like to tell you about the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

The raptor populations of Texas are robust and thriving, but this isn’t the case all over the world. Take a look at this gorgeous bird:

An adult Philippine Eagle with prey. Photo by Mark Wilson

A Phlippine Eagle chick about to leave the nest! Photo by Mark Wilson

Not only this this the largest AND most endangered eagle in the world, but in my professional opinion, it’s also the most beautiful.  Since 2008, the bird department has been raising funds for the Philippine Eagle Foundation and with our SOS, we’d like to bring the eagle to the people of Houston.

Unfortunately, there are no Philippine Eagles anywhere in the States, but that hasn’t stopped us!  Our very talented bird supervisor, Rene Ryan, made Jeffery, the traveling Philippine Eagle puppet.  Since September of last year, Jeffery has been traveling around the world with zoo staff, getting ready to promote this Bird of Prey Spotlight on the Species!

Check out this HANDSOME puppet:

See the resemblance???

Now, on to the contest!  Each Monday morning at 10 AM, a photo of Jeffery will be posted, and with the aid of some hints, our blog followers will have to guess where in the world Jeffery is! Jeffery’s already been to a handful of continents, countries and states!

The first to guess correctly will earn 10 points. The second, 7 points and the third 5 points. Fourth place will receive 2 points.  The comment time stamp will confirm the quickness of your answers!

But wait, there’s a twist! Have you missed our FOTO Fridays?  The best caption for the featured photo (to be decided by zoo staff) will earn a whopping 8 points!

Unlike FOTO Friday, please leave your caption as a comment on the contest blog posted on Mondays, not on Facebook.

Here’s a quick example of what Monday’s posts will look like:

According to legend, William B. Travis drew a line in the dirt for troops to cross over to certain death at this famous historical site.

Where in the world is Jeffery?

Contestants would then race to answer (sorry, not all photos will be this easy to place!), and brush up their funny bones to attempt to win the photo caption round!  Friday morning at 10 AM, all will be revealed, as well as contestant rankings!

What’s in it for you?

The winner will receive a goody basket full of our handmade items which will be for sale during the event, as well as Philippine Eagle art and merchandise.  This prize will be amazing, and throughout the next few months, we will reveal photos of the contents, but for right now, trust me, you want it!

The contest begins Monday, January 30th, 2012!

You do not have to live in Houston to participate, but no Houston Zoo staff are allowed to enter.

 Get more Jeffery updates on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!

Chilean Flamingos Feeding at the Houston Zoo

Here at the Houston Zoo, one of the most beautiful sights is our large flock of Chilean Flamingos. These brightly-colored birds are social, vocal and highly interesting. Amazingly, the size of our flock is nothing compared to the spectacular gatherings these birds would naturally form in the wild; Chilean Flamingos are known to form flocks numbering into the thousands!

Flamingos have grooves along the edges of their beaks used for filtering small food items from the water

Without question, one of the most intriguing aspects of these unique birds is the way they feed. Flamingos have a specialized beak designed to help “filter” small plants and animals out of the water, which are then consumed and metabolized to create the striking pink coloration! Flamingos will take in a mouth full of water (along with whatever happens to be in the water), and then use their tongue to push all the water through special grooves on their beak. The result is a mouthful of food that these birds will then eat!

Here at the Houston Zoo, our flamingos are fed a variety of different pelleted diets (depending on the time of year and their current metabolic needs). These pellets are made to be nutritionally complete, which could easily help contribute to the fact that several of our flamingos are in their forties and fifties!  Our flamingos also receive krill, a small species of shrimp that is relished as a treat.

A large group of animals can prove to be ravenous; Chilean Flamingos are no exception. Our flock of birds readily eats through 50+ cups of pelleted diet per day. In addition, 5lbs of krill per week are consumed by our flamingos. When temperatures hit lows in the winter, these amounts are increased to keep up with the metabolic needs of these amazing birds.

Give the Gift of Grub by December 31 to help provide our flamingos and the rest of the Zoo’s 6,000 animal residents with all the tasty and nutritious grub they need to stay happy and healthy in the New Year! 

Thank you to TXU Energy for generously matching the first $25,000 in donations this year!

Anyone who has watched a television show or movie filmed in a tropical location has undoubtedly heard the call of a Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaguineae). While these birds are only found in certain areas of Australia and New Zealand, the call of this bird has become synonymous with untamed wilds and is often added to the soundtrack to create a more “natural” feel. Less melodic but much more visually-striking, our Blue-winged Kookaburras (Dacelo leachii) are also favorites amongst our guests.

The call of a kookaburra may in fact be one of the most interesting things about these birds, with a great deal of myth associated with the vocalization. Aboriginal legend tells us that the Kookaburra is a messenger for the Earth, using a powerful call to alert the Earth of the lighting of the great fire in the sky. In actuality kookaburras will call for a variety of reasons (including territoriality and excitement), and these early morning calls are typically used to assert territorial boundaries. However, this myth does indicate the majesty of the call and the reverence it has inspired.

However, kookaburras have a great many other interesting attributes. While they may appear somewhat fluffy and cuddly, these birds are in fact accomplished predators. Kookaburras consume large food items by beating the prey against a rock or log to break down bones and make the food item easier to swallow.

At the Houston Zoo, our birds receive a wide variety of food items to keep them interested in their food and also ensure their nutritional well-being. Our birds eat mice, chicken chicks, anoles (small lizards), crickets, mealworms, smelt, walking sticks and a specialized ground meat diet to ensure optimum feather condition! In the course of a month, these four birds can eat:

• 50 Mice
• 50 Anoles
• 16 Chicken Chicks

A variety of insects are also readily accepted by these ravenous birds. Our Keepers at the Houston Zoo also perform regularly-scheduled feedings so that our guests can learn even more about these fascinating birds. Our Laughing Kookaburras and Blue-winged Kookaburras are on-exhibit daily at Birds of the World, a large outdoor area showing off some of our most interesting feathered residents!

Give the Gift of Grub this holiday season to help provide tasty meals for our Kookaburras and all of the animals at the Houston Zoo!  Between now and December 31, TXU Energy has generously agreed to match all donations, up to $25,000 total, so your gift could go TWICE as far.  That’ll give our birds something to call about.

Rainbo painting with trainer Amber Zelmer

One of his favorite learned behaviors is painting.  His trainer dips the brush in paint and then Rainbo holds it in his beak and sweeps the brush across the canvas.  He is quite artistic and has his own distinctive  style.   Rainbo is also quite a talker and knows more than a dozen different words and phrases.   He does several animal imitations including cat, dog, snake, and his newest imitation, monkey. 

An interesting thing about  the Eclectus Parrot is that the male and female are VERY different in appearance.  While you can see Ranbo is a beautiful green – the females are a bright scarlet red.  This is called sexual dimorphism.  Electus parrots are so sexually dimorphic that they were thought to be two different species for a long time.

You never know who you will see in the Naturally Wild Swap Shop.  Don’t know about the Swap Shop?  Click here for more information. 

If you haven’t been, you have to come meet them. And to that end, on Saturday, December 3 we’re having a very special day that you might just want to check out! Visit our website for a chedule of Keeper Talks, games and activities.

One of our two cinereous vultures, with their beautiful bright blue coloring

While turkey and black vultures seem so abundant to us here, vulture species around the world range from threatened to critically endangered. By spotlighting our ambassador species of King and Cinereous vultures here at the Houston Zoo, we can bring the ongoing plight to the attention of the public.

The King vulture

The Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project has been since 2004 to restore a healthy population of the three species of critically endangered species of vultures found there.  They are currently the only Asian country to have an increase in their numbers. All proceeds from The Houston Zoo’s celebration of International Vulture Awareness Day will go towards helping them continue to fight the battle.

Come by the vulture enclosure on Saturday, December 3 to enjoy interactive activities for  kids of all ages, as well as educational keeper chats and feedings.

Written by Jessica Clark, Bird Supervisor

Our Double-wattled Cassowary, Darwin, may be the most notorious chow hound at the Houston Zoo.

Darwin weighs in at 110 pounds and eats 11 pounds of food daily.  His diet consists of a wide variety of fruit (strawberries are his favorite), vegetables, and a special dry pellet diet, that smells and looks a little like guinea pig food!   That’s over 4000 pounds of food a year, about the weight of a fully grown male elephant!

Darwin doesn’t just eat a TON (or two!) of food, he can eat very large pieces of fruit as well.  He doesn’t chew or break up his food very often; he just tips his head back and swallows the food whole. Check him out:

Due to their impressive eating talents, cassowaries in the wild are known as a keynote species in their native rainforests.  These birds are the only known animals who can distribute the seeds of over 70 different kinds of trees whose fruit is too large to be swallowed by any other animal.

Not only that, but there are 80 species of plants whose seeds have such a high toxicity that only the cassowary can eat and distribute these fruits!  Cassowaries are aided in this by the relatively shortest and fastest digestive system in the bird world, a powerful liver, and a very unique set of stomach enzymes.

This super fast digestion means that very often, fruit will pass through Darwin’s system before being fully digested.  Cassowaries practice coprophagic behavior…let’s just say they recycle the undigested pieces of food.  Waste not, want not!

To see just how quickly Darwin can eat, you must watch this nail-biting video of a peach eating contest between Darwin and his keepers.  It may not end the way you would guess!

Give the Gift of Grub this holiday season to help provide tasty meals for Darwin and all of the animals at the Houston Zoo!  Between now and December 31, TXU Energy has generously agreed to match all donations, up to $25,000 total, so your gift could go TWICE as far.  That means you could help provide TWICE the peaches for Darwin!