Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’d like to introduce you to some fabulous, feathered friends in the hornbill department! Three species have recently landed, and we can’t wait for you to get to know them.   Rhinoceros hornbill  Buceros rhinoceros    Jack has red eyes with a black ring around them. Biscuit has blueish-white eyes with a red ring around them. Meet Jack and Biscuit, our stunning male and female pair. Though they are similar in size and appearance, their eyes are distinctive. Jack has red eyes with a black rim. Biscuit has white eyes with a red rim. Hornbills mate for life and are extremely dedicated pairs. Visit them at Trail of Vines between siamangs—and fittingly— Glenn the rhino. Range: Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo. Habitat: Primary and secondary tropical rainforest. They depend on large trees with adequately sized cavities for nesting. Diet: Rhinoceros Hornbills a...

 Posted by Woodland Park Zoo Communications Staff Humboldt penguins by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo New proactive, preventative measures to protect zoo birds from HPAI  As an increased measure to protect its birds from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Woodland Park Zoo will be proactively moving some species within the zoo. To safeguard the health of flamingos and some crane species, who live in open-top habitats, these birds will be moved into more protective housing temporarily to prevent contact with wild mallards and other waterfowl.   Penguins will remain outdoors for now, as their pool and food sources don’t draw mallards into their habitat.   We appreciate the patience of our community and guests, who may miss seeing these beautiful birds for a while but who understand the importance of keeping them safe. Chilean flamingos, Annie Kwan/Woodland Park Zoo Update on the goose flock  On Nov. 14, the zoo received confirmation that ...

Tamlyn Sapp, Waterfowl Animal Keeper Photos by Tamlyn Sapp, Woodland Park Zoo unless otherwise noted Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo ‘Tis the season for holiday music to ring, but the ears of many zoo guests are left ringing after visiting the most raucous birds at the zoo—the southern screamers and the Chilean flamingos! This flamboyant group of South American birds often showcase their choral talents in harmony. But what is all this ruckus really about? Let me introduce you to my jolly friends and I will explain why they have so much to say and what it all means! Southern screamers (Chauna torquata) are native to South American grassy marshes and agricultural lands, spanning Bolivia to Argentina. These birds can be domesticated and are known to be good guard animals due to their deafening “oh-WOOOW” screechy bark, which can be heard up to a mile away! When threatened, screamers will let out a low drumming warning rumble from their chest, and in times of contentment t...

 Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications and Susan Burchardt, Animal Keeper We'd like to introduce you to a few of Woodland Park Zoo’s own Superheroes. No capes needed here because these particular heroes are already expert fliers. We’ll take a closer look and examine some of their unique superpowers, investigate what threats they face in nature—their “Kryptonite” so to speak—and fill you in on how you can visit with them at Woodland Park Zoo or in some cases, see their cousins around the wild spaces of our Pacific Northwest! Read all about them, then take our raptor quiz and find out which Superhero you are most like!  Modoc, the handsome turkey vulture. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Superhero: Modoc the Turkey vulture Superpower: Iron stomach! Vultures have strong stomachs that can neutralize all kinds of dangerous germs and bacteria—which helps minimize the spread of disease to other animals and to people. Kryptonite/Threats: Toxins in their (and our) environme...

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood Editors note: While Woodland Park Zoo is temporarily closed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community, our staff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. For more information about activities for families, visit  zoo.org/zootoyou . This week, enjoy some more time with the birds... We know you miss all your favorite zoo animals—and we know there are plenty of you who especially miss the birds. From Lola the aplomado falcon to Gomez the Humboldt penguin to Mbuni the ostrich, we have as many wildly different birds as there are people to love them! Sweet little chickadee! Photo via  https://www.flickr.com/photos/seabamirum/ If you have young bird lovers at home missing their feath...

Posted by Jim Watson, Wildlife Research Scientist, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Jim Watson is a friend of the zoo and works with our Living Northwest Conservation Program's Raptor Ecology of the Shrub-Steppe Project. Jim has partnered with us for years and we are excited to share his most recent adventures in raptor research: When Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Woodland Park zoo started our cooperative raptor studies in the shrub-steppe of the Pacific Northwest 20 years ago we probably didn’t envision we were embarking on such a long-term journey. This productive relationship has delved into important projects including migration studies of ferruginous hawks and golden eagles, and how human activities like construction of wind turbines and lead contamination in prey are affecting these iconic raptors. We took advantage of a recent opportunity to look in a little different direction for our cooperative studies within the shrub-steppe raptor commu...