Hummingbirds in zoos

One of my favorite Hummingbirds also disappeared from Europe. The last specimen of the Wire-crested thorntail ( Discosura popelairii ) died at an age of at least 6 years 1992 at Wuppertal Zoo. Wuppertal got it from Augsburg in 1988 and Augsburg had obtained this specimen in 1986.
Zootierliste mention one other German collection which kept this species, a single bird lived at Frankfurt Zoo in 1986 and died in 1987.
Zootierliste don't mention Weltvogelpark Walsrode as a former holder but this is however the case, I myself took care for several specimens during the period 1986-1988 but also at Walsrode we didn't have much succes with the species, the longest living bird was about 6 months in our care :(.
 
What sort of difficulties do Zoos or others have in keeping Humming birds successfully? Why are they often kept individually?
 
Male Hummingbirds can be very agresive so that why they are kept in many zoos singlely and the problem in keeping them alive is that they often become Aspergillosis which is in most cases deadly :(.
 
Just found a list of Hummingbird species which have bred at Augsburg Zoo - in this period ( around the 1980-ties ) this must have been the most succesfull Hummingbird-keeper and breeder worldwide :
Antillean crested Hummingbird
Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird
Violet-bellied Hummingbird
Ruby Topaz
Streamer-tail
Sapphire sprangled emerald
Peruvian Sheartail
Grey-breasted Sabrewing
Blue-tailed emerald
Black-throated Mango
This makes 10 ( ! ) species bred at this Zoo !
 
don't know if this counts, but by the Butterfly Garden at the Bronx zoo occasionally there are sightings of wild hummingbirds. (Not sure of species)
 
temp said:
Another American zoo that isn't on the list in the first post and has (had?) hummingbirds is Miami. I have found photos from 2010 of Giant hummingbird, Costa's hummingbird and Broad-billed hummingbird.
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Unfortunately there are no longer any captive hummingbirds in Zoo Miami.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Amazilia amazilia has formerly been held at roughly a dozen European collections, the majority of which went out of the species within the last 5 years or so. Furthermore, the species is still held at eight European collections; Walsrode, Wuppertal, Antwerp, Parco Faunistico, Vogelpark Avifauna, Amsterdam, Dierenpark Emmen and London.

Hylocharis cyanus has formerly been held by London, Zoo Berlin and Tiergarten Schönbrunn, all in the 1930s. The sole current holding of this species is at Vogelpark Avifauna.

Thalurania furcata has been held by a half-dozen collections in the past, the most recent being Wuppertal until 2012. The sole current holding of this species is at Vogelpark Avifauna.
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Both Hylocharis cyanus and Thalurania furcata are no longer held in European zoos, and there are currently only three public holders of Amazilia amazilia.
 
Interestingly, the former two taxa are still listed as being held at Vogelpark Avifauna on ZTL, whilst the third taxon is listed at only two public collections - which is the third?

Either way I fear we are very close to the day where no hummingbird taxa are held in European collections.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Interestingly, the former two taxa are still listed as being held at Vogelpark Avifauna on ZTL, whilst the third taxon is listed at only two public collections - which is the third?

Either way I fear we are very close to the day where no hummingbird taxa are held in European collections.
Click to expand...

I visited Avifauna on Wednesday in search of the two hummingbird taxa - unfortunately there is only one hummingbird left (an Amazilia amazilia) and it is held off-show. The bird park is building a new South American exhibit, however, including aviaries for hummingbirds which they intend to stock appropriately.

I'm not sure why Avifauna's listing for Amazilia amazilia was transferred to a former holding on Zootierliste.
 
Heared sometime ago of plans of Avifauna to cooperate in a Hummingbird-breeding facility somewhere in Middle- or South America. If it all would work out, the captive-bred birds would be made avaible to Avifauna ( and possible also to other European / American (?) collections ).
 
Hi all,

I am also interested in knowing about the hummingbirds in Private collections in Europe or elsewhere.

Can somebody tell anyone who is breeding hummingbirds ?

There were three breeders from Europe who successfully bred hummingbirds in captivity in past.

1. A.J. Mobbs from UK
2. Walter Scheithauer from Germany
3. Jack Roovers from Netherlands

First two breeders had also published very wonderful books about their experiences with hummingbirds and their breeding. They were luckily able to bred some very rare species from South America.

You can read more about Mr. A.J. Mobbs and Mr. Walter Scheithauer here:

Hummingbird Books

Mr. Jack Roovers had a site which can be accessed here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120717220551/http://www.jack-roovers-hummingbirds.nl/

Currently, I know Mr. Jacques Ducros from France is breeding many species of hummingbirds. Since 1994, Jacques has been licensed by the French government to possess and breed hummingbirds. Fascinated by them since childhood, he currently has about 100 hummers of different species in a very large aviary built onto their home in Pont de l'Etoile, near Marseilles in the south of France.

In his book It's a Hummingbird's Life Mr. Jacques has also mentioned about "Robert Perez who, without doubt, currently has one of the largest hummingbird aviaries in Europe"

Mr. Jacques also published numerous magazine articles and 3 books on breeding hummingbirds in captivity, namely as, It's a Hummingbird's Life, Hummingbird Care & Hummingbirds: the passion of a lifetime.

So my questions are:

Please share your knowledge about the breeders you know. How difficult is today to import hummingbird species for breeding purposes and pleasure of keeping these beautiful birds ? Anyone here have contacts with current breeders mentioned above ? Do these breeders sell their birds ? How these breeders managed to import various species of hummingbirds ?

Thanks for your time.
 
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Found this video of hand-raising 2 hummingbird-chicks at Raptor Education Group Inc. - Antigo - USA ( video from 2013 ) :

We are delighted to share a video featuring two of our tiniest patients. A nest, complete with tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird chicks arrived yesterday after it came down in a storm. We were not able to replace it, but will continue to try when weather clears. Few people have the honor of witnessing baby hummingbirds as they are fed. Their parent are not doing the feeding, we think they are still pretty amazing. Hummingbirds eat aphids and other tiny insects as well as nectar. Protein is vital to hummingbirds all of their life, but especially so as babies when they are growing quickly. There is a small syringe at the other end of the feeding tube that is not visible on the video. Their formula is a complicated mixture of crushed and powdered insects and a homemade nectar base along with digestive enzymes, which they get from their parents naturally during feeding. Update note: The babies did very well and were released. It is always an honor to work with our amazing wild avian patients.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10200251956683718
 
I found a video by Sylvan Heights four months ago with Broad Billed Hummingbirds and NC zoo lists Costa's hummingbird on an animal list dated 7/1/2016. Does either still have?
 
Yes, Sylvan Heights Bird Park exhibits broad-billed hummingbird in a few aviaries mixed with other small species.
 
During the 1940-ties the Bronx Zoo must have one of the largest Hummingbird-collection ever on display. Here is a list I found :
1 Green-headed wood nymph
2 Wilson's incas
5 Heavenly sylphs
5 Black-billed emeralds
5 White-footed racket-tails
1 Green-headed emeralds
2 White-tipped hummingbirds
1 Empress Eugenie's hummingbird
3 Delattre's sabre-wings
6 Rose-throated flame-bearers
1 Scintillant flame-bearer
10 Southern green violet-ears
7 Guimet's flutterers
12 Costa Rican fire-throats
3 Admirable hummingbirds
3 Princess Helena's coquettes
1 Costa Rican snow-cap
2 Costa Rican Mountain-gems
4 Coppery-headed emeralds
1 Garnet-throated hummingbird
1 Green-throated cazique
3 Guatemalan caziques
8 Green-headed admirable hummingbirds
11 White-eared hummingbirds
1 Guatemalan broad-tailed hummingbird
1 White-bellied amazilia
1 Cinnamomeus amazilia
3 Northern green violet-ears
2 Guatemalan hermits
1 Dusky hermit
and around 1950 also a Swordbill hummingbird entered the collection !
 
How easy are hummingbirds to mix together or with other species? All my sources say they are aggressive at least to their own and similar species. Given their size they would look good in a planted vivarium.
 
Most species are indeed quite aggresive, even against their own species. The best way to keep them is single in ( small ) aviaries and only when a female start to build a nest, a male of the same species should be allowed to visit her several times a day over a period of several days to mate with her. As soon as eggs are laid, the female should be kept again on her own.
The only exeption I'm aware of are the Steamer-tailed hummingbirds from Jamaica which have been kept succesfully in smaller groups and have bred succesfully in this way.
 
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