Archive for the ‘Natural Encounters’ Category

Aug
17

Encounter Our Green Aracari

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Birds,Natural Encounters

Natural Encounters Keeper Priscilla is clearly on Pico's "Friends" list

Our members and frequent guests would probably describe Natural Encounters as a place where you can see many species from many habitats all in one place.  We specialize in mixed species exhibits and in bringing our animals out onto the public floor for, well, encounters.  One of our popular birds that you might see in either the indoor or the outdoor rain forest exhibits is Pico, our collard aracari (ahr-uh-SAHR-ee).  He’s quite the charmer with his fancy colors and the way he approaches the front of the exhibit to get a closer look at guests. 

Pico is an inredible animal to work with, but unfortunately he has strong likes and dislikes as far as individuals.  He doesn’t hesitate to let you know how he feels about you the moment he meets you.  So, much as we adore him, as far as an encounter candidate, he’s maybe not the best.  Pico has been able to teach our guests that these birds range from Central through South America and that they are related to toucans as well as many other facts about aracari’s. Don’t forget to tell Pico how handsome he is when you see him!

Because we had come to love aracari’s so much through Pico, we were thrilled when we got a call recently from the Houston SPCA about an aracari that was confiscated from an individual that could not properly care for the large numbers of birds they had aquired.  This aracari was reportedly very friendly and loved everyone she met.  We went right over to the SPCA to meet her.  She was everything they told us, with personality plus!  We quickly made arrangements for quarantine space and she came to the zoo.  She has been given a clean bill of health by our veterinary staff and has now moved to her permanent home in Natural Encounters.

Meet Olivia, the green aracari!  She will be making appearances at Natural Encounters so stop by on your visits to the zoo and learn more cool facts about aracari’s and their rain forest homes!

Get your own bird's eye view of Olivia, our new green aracari when you visit Natural Encounters!

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Aug
11

Seeing Double at Red Panda

Posted by in Animal Info,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Red Panda

Some of our guests have recently been heard to exclaim “Hey! There’s two of them!”  They are referring to our red pandas.  Many of you know and are great fans of Toby, the World’s Cutest Animal.  We recently acquired another panda, Take (pronounced Tah-Kay).  Take came to us from the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota.  He was the only male of a litter of triplets.  It’s fairly unusual for red pandas to have three cubs, two being more common.  Take is only a year old, although he is already almost a “grown up” in red panda terms.  In the wild, red pandas are on their own and looking for their first mate at around 15 months old.

After Take had been here for a few weeks we decided to see what Toby and Take thought of one another.  Pretty much they reacted as we anticipated.  Toby, at nine years old, likes his nap time and wasn’t quite sure what this youngster was up to.  Take, having just been separated from two rambunctious siblings, thought all red pandas wanted to play all day. 

Fortunately, they seem to have come to an agreement in which Toby gets at least some of his nap time and Take occasionally gets Toby to engage in some chase sessions.  They can be seen napping on the water fall together or searching for enrichment that the keepers have put out for them.  If you stop by, you can distinguish Take because he is fluffier and has a lighter “strawberry blond” tail while Toby is darker with a “deep auburn” tail.

While I think we will all still agree that Toby is “The World’s Cutest Animal”, wouldn’t you say Take is a close second?

Jul
28

Lady Raven’s identity

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Birds,Natural Encounters

Natural Encounters Keeper Amelia with our finally identified Lady Raven.

No longer will we need to sit  engaged in guessing, with multiple syllables expressing the gender of Raven.  We got the lab tests results and SHE will grow into a beautiful Lady as she gets older.  Now comes the fun part, choosing her name!  We’d love to hear suggestions from the audience!

 

 

 

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Jul
25

Raven’s eyes from an iPhone

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Birds,Natural Encounters

Well, (stately raven of the saintly days of yore) doesn’t exactly apply to our kid quite yet.  While (s)he is getting much better at balancing and is developing flight muscles, it’s still a bit of a toss up if the intended landing target will be hit or not, and sometimes watching Raven getting from one side of the enclosure to the other can be quite entertaining for the staff! Still a bit of a clumsy juvenile.

We are all  getting very excited about the end of quarantine.  August 1st is the official day and then we can take her/him to Natural Encounters.  We also sent in a few feathers this week to a lab that will run a DNA test and give us the answer to our Lord vs Lady question. I will be happy to stop using either/or gender references and we can hardly wait for the results so we can choose a name! Any bets on whether it be Lord or Lady? What name should we choose?

In the mean time, here are some pictures from our play session today.  Raven is very curious about my iPhone.  Both of these shots clearly show the blue/gray color of a juvenile raven’s eyes. They will turn brown as Raven matures this year.

Raven checks out my iPhone.

My pretty gray eyes will be brown when I grow up.

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Jul
14

Raven’s Beguiling

Posted by in Animal Info,Behind the Scenes,Birds,Natural Encounters

Raven has settled in nicely after the long flight from Alaska and has certainly beguiled us all into smiling in short order!  The 30 day quarantine period is always difficult for keepers who are eagerly awaiting their new charges.  The clinic keepers are primarily responsible for the care of the animals during this quarantine time, but because Raven requires a great deal of handling, the Natural Encounters staff has been visiting at the end of their shifts to offer some more hands on time.  As you can see, Raven is happy to see just about anyone that will offer food, and has quickly learned to step up onto our hands for a treat or a scratch.

Natural Encounters Keeper Kamryn offering a very vocal Raven a get-to-know-you scratch

Natural Encounters Supervisor, PJ....clearly beguiled!

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Jul
06

Raven’s Flight

Posted by in Behind the Scenes,Birds,Natural Encounters

It was a morning very dreary, and I was certainly quite weary as I waited during the pre-dawn hours in the cargo area at IAH  for a plane that was delayed thanks to hurricane Alex.  Perhaps it was fitting that this particular shipment was tempest tossed, but it only added to the usual worry that accompanies an animal transport.  This was a youngster , traveling for the first time.   Our new fledgling raven was arriving on an overnight flight from Alaska.  The new baby was barely four weeks old and we couldn’t wait to meet him, or her…Lord or Lady as Poe’s character mused in his famous poem. Not being a dimorphic species, we’ll have to wait for genetic testing to tell us if our new arrival be Lord or Lady.

The new "baby" raven!

Eventually my fretting over the transport was relieved when the porter brought me a crate addressed to the Houston Zoo.  My first peak inside, however, revealed more than I bargained for!  Our new ” baby” was not what one generally imagines when one thinks of a baby bird.  I felt what Poe’s character surely felt when a raven invited itself  into his chamber.  That being complete astonishment! This baby bird, at four weeks, is about a foot and a half tall and weighs close to a kilo!  It definitely won’t be nestling in the palm of our hand, although it’s not yet coordinated enough for perching on a bust of Pallas.

Aside from being the harbinger of the afterlife in the mind of Poe’s protagonist, Raven’s are famous for their problem solving abilities and sense of play. In fact, I had no sooner got Raven settled in the capable hands of our clinic staff in the quarantine area when the keeper called me wondering what I thought about transferring the raven to a bigger cage.  It had already completely explored the cage we thought would be a good home during quarantine, torn up all the paper and was looking for more to do. Raven will certainly be a fun and challenging new addition to the Natural Encounters area.

Follow our posts as we blog about getting to know our Raven and ravens in general in the coming weeks.

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Jun
27

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

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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Jun
26

Bee-lieve it of Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Bumblebee on Lantana

In the U.S., the economic value of pollination services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated at $3 billion each year.  Bumblebees are highly efficient in pollinating many crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cranberries, and blue berries.  Yumm!  Best of all, most bumblebees won’t bother you unless you bother them.  When gardening at home, please consider using native plants.  Most of all, be kind to pollinators, consider going organic.  Insecticides tend to kill indiscriminately and will eliminate a lot of your pollinators.  The larger the variety of wildlife in your yard or garden (insects, birds, toads, lizards, etc.) the less “pest” insects you will have.  Naturally!

For more information on creating a native garden, visit: http://www.xerces.org/pollinators-south-central-region/

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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Jun
25

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

 

Photo taken by Beatriz Moisset

Wait!  Don’t squash that bug!

Beetles get a bad wrap due to “messy pollination”.  No one ever taught them not to dedicate where they eat giving them the name “mess and soil pollinators”.  Due to sheer numbers, beetles comprise of the largest set of pollinating animals.  They are responsible for pollinating 88% of the 240,000 flowering plants globally!  So next time you stop to smell a Magnolia, think of your beetle friends!

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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Jun
24

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Photo taken by Jean-Christophe Vié

On the island of Madagascar, black and white ruffed lemurs are the main pollinators of traveler’s trees or traveler’s palm. These trees are typically 40-feet-high. They lemurs use their nimble hands to pull open the tough flower bracts. They stick their long snouts and tongues deep inside a tree’s flower. As a result, they collect pollen on their muzzle and fur, and then transport it to the next flower. The resulting fruits are a major source of food. It appears that no other creature has the strength and nimbleness to pollinate the palm. This gives the black and white ruffed lemur the award of the world’s largest pollinator!

For more information go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/unusual.shtml

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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