Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications
The tawny frogmouths didn’t want to be left out of the zoo’s baby boom, so they hatched their first chick of the season last week. Adult frogmouths sport mottled, grayish feathers that let them camouflage themselves like a dead tree branch, but they start life as a little, white puffball, covered in downy feathers.
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| One day old tawny frogmouth chick. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. |
The tawny frogmouths didn’t want to be left out of the zoo’s baby boom, so they hatched their first chick of the season last week. Adult frogmouths sport mottled, grayish feathers that let them camouflage themselves like a dead tree branch, but they start life as a little, white puffball, covered in downy feathers.
What do you think the tawny frogmouth chick looks most like?
At one day old, the chick weighed in at 16.5 g (0.58 ounces). Its parents are doing a
good job caring for it in their nest. The chick is weighed daily to make sure
its growing as expected, and we’ll offer some supplemental snacks (little bits
of mice) if it needs help putting on weight. |
| One day old. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. |
The chick’s parents have another fertile egg in their nest, so we may
have a second hatching on our hands soon. The family lives behind the scenes
together as part of a breeding program for this species. The zoo is also home
to a second breeding pair, and we coordinate the Species Survival Plan
conservation breeding program for the tawny frogmouth across all accredited
zoos. There are only 125 individual tawny frogmouths living in 48 zoos, so
we’re proud to have a great track record of success breeding this species and
expanding the population.
Comments
I saw it in the night exhibit when I was little. It made me very happy and eye open lol
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