avian Archives - Page 13 of 20

29/05/201805/03/2024

Cats, Cars And Wildlife

Editor's note: An updated and republished version of this blog post is available by following the link below.

Cats, Cars And Wildlife

What have cats, cars and wildlife in common? Cats are domesticated companion animals, cars are manmade machines, and both are able to kill living beings when not supervised or controlled. Cars kill cats and wildlife, and cats kill wildlife too. Neither of both scenarios is ‘natural’, both are artificial and manmade. So what is the impact, and what can be done to keep both, our beloved companion cats and wildlife, safe?

27/05/201829/05/2018

Jackdaw Puck – An Obituary

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the loss of our residential jackdaw Puck, who became a true friend and member of our mixed human and non-human family.

Puck has been brought to us in August 2015, after she has been found lost and wandering disorientated the streets approaching people randomly. It became quickly apparent that Puck was an imprinted hand raised bird, who may have been escaped or intentionally released. At admission Puck showed marked deficiency signs, which have been most likely caused by a suboptimal diet and care.

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15/05/201820/05/2018

Plumage Problems In Wild And Captive Corvids

A grounded premature rook or crow with white, brittle or partly broken wing and tail feathers needs expert and longterm care to allow the damaged feathers to be replaced during their annual moult. Birds affected should not be released before their complete annual moult, which happens for fledglings born this year in the summer of the following year. Otherwise it will be unlikely that these birds are going to survive their first winter, as the deficient plumage will quickly deteriorate further. This usually means that these birds will eventually become grounded. They will get easily wet and hypothermic, are prone to predation and will soon be unable to sustain themselves.

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05/05/2018

Jackdaw Moritz – An Obituary

It is completely unexpected and with great sadness that we have to announce the loss of our residential jackdaw Moritz.

Moritz was an adult jackdaw, who has been admitted in March 2017 after being rescued and saved by animal carers at the local zoo following a vicious attack by monkeys. Moritz came to us in shock, severely bleeding and with comminuted compound fractures of his right wing.

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12/04/201812/06/2018

The Science Behind Caramel Crows

This fascinating blog post by Kaeli Swift gives some detailed insight into the topic of what controls feather pigmentation in birds, and in particular corvids.

Shared with the kind permission of Kaeli Swift of Corvid Research.

Generally, when I receive emails with the subject line “interesting crow” it’s because the author noted some peculiar or amusing crow behavior they want to share, or because they spotted an unusual looking crow due to AKD, leucism or avian pox. Rarely, it’s for none of these reasons and is truly a horse of a different color. Or in this case, crow.[…]

via The science behind caramel crows — Corvid Research