5 Must See Species Before You Die

Jakub said:
I was very lucky to see the kiwi in its outside enclosure in my home zoo, Zlin, during the morning guided tour in August. About 4 times during the summer, the offical opening takes place in 6. a.m mainly necause of the possibility to see the male Gery outside of his box. Kiwi was also a higlight during my first visit in Frankfurt Zoo in 2007. Another zoos I have seen kiwi, are Weltvogelpark Walsrode and Zoo Berlin. I am realy astonished with this bird species;)
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
You have seen quite a lot of these little birds ! Very lucky!

I find them absolutely fascinating.
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Kiwi are every bit as fascinating in person as what people have heard. Moving over from England, they were a huge novelty to me and I still enjoy seeing them as much as when I moved over. I’ve seen a Great spotted kiwi; and several North Island brown kiwi (the most common in New Zealand zoos).

Many zoos participate in the hatching and rearing of kiwi eggs for release; while having one or two adult birds on display in a night house. You can also sometimes meet them via (free) public encounters like I did at Auckland Zoo once. Wellington Zoo have the best nocturnal house in New Zealand in my opinion. There’s no barrier (people can literally reach out a touch the kiwi - though you shouldn’t :p), which makes the visitor feel all the more immersed in the night forest exhibit.
 
Oh, kiwi are cool. I had the privilege of seeing some when I went to Berlin Zoo a couple of years back - they'd always had them from what I understood, but the first two attempts at visiting they just weren't visible to the public - when I went, they were in a designated nocturnal exhibit in the World of Birds aviary - and it was quite big too.

The first day there, I was able to see one at a distance, and even then I loved it. The second day, there were two of them and they were much closer to the glass, meaning I could make out their little faces. It's such a unique and dare I say charming little bird.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Kiwi are every bit as fascinating in person as what people have heard. Moving over from England, they were a huge novelty to me and I still enjoy seeing them as much as when I moved over. I’ve seen a Great spotted kiwi; and several North Island brown kiwi (the most common in New Zealand zoos).
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Very lucky to have seen so many!

Have you seen all of these in the wild or in captivity or both ?

I find these birds convergence with mammals (always remember Stephen Jay Gould describing it as "an honorary mammal") fascinating and also the conservation status of the species is another thing that greatly interest me about kiwis.

Zoofan15 said:
Many zoos participate in the hatching and rearing of kiwi eggs for release; while having one or two adult birds on display in a night house. You can also sometimes meet them via (free) public encounters like I did at Auckland Zoo once. Wellington Zoo have the best nocturnal house in New Zealand in my opinion. There’s no barrier (people can literally reach out a touch the kiwi - though you shouldn’t :p), which makes the visitor feel all the more immersed in the night forest exhibit.
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Good to hear that this sort of program is being implemented with these birds in NZ zoos and I would absolutely lovely to experience meeting a kiwi !
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Very lucky to have seen so many!

Have you seen all of these in the wild or in captivity or both ?

I find these birds convergence with mammals (always remember Stephen Jay Gould describing it as "an honorary mammal") fascinating and also the conservation status of the species is another thing that greatly interest me about kiwis.

Good to hear that this sort of program is being implemented with these birds in NZ zoos and I would absolutely lovely to experience meeting a kiwi !
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I’ve only ever seen kiwis in captivity, as would be the case for most New Zealander’s. Being nocturnal and not readily found in mainland forests, there’s little chance of happening across one in the wild. They are indeed a quirky bird, clumsy in appearance but utterly fascinating.

The hatch and release programmes run in New Zealand have been highly successful. Some facilities even run tours where you can visit their hatchery. :)
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’ve only ever seen kiwis in captivity, as would be the case for most New Zealander’s. Being nocturnal and not readily found in mainland forests, there’s little chance of happening across one in the wild. They are indeed a quirky bird, clumsy in appearance but utterly fascinating.

The hatch and release programmes run in New Zealand have been highly successful. Some facilities even run tours where you can visit their hatchery. :)
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I think it is an excellent idea, this hatch and release program and really must have a very positive impact on the conservation of these birds.

By the way I would totally like to see a kiwi at night, that would be amazing.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Birds:

1. Kiwi (of any species).

2. Lesser / greater bird of paradise (or indeed any bird of paradise species).

3. Bower bird (any species).

4. Spix macaw.

5. Andean cock of the rock.
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Short trip to Europe and a bit of luck and you are done. I am not 100 % sure for the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird in Walsrode (I have seen it at San Diego zoo ), but the others are more or less guaranteed.
 
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twilighter said:
Short trip to Europe and a bit of luck and you are done. I am not 100 % sure for the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird in Walsrode (I have seen it at San Diego zoo ), but the others are more or less guaranteed.
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Yes, thats hopefully what I plan to do but probably in a few short trips I guess.

Bower birds don't seem to be all that common anywhere outside of Australia though.
 
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On the other hand, Bowerbirds are easy in the wild in Australia and New Guinea; go to Lamington in Queensland and you cannot miss Satin and Regent. However, Flame in New Guinea is something else! In PNG I saw 15 species of BoP in 2 weeks including Raggiana, Greater, Lesser, King, Twelve-wired and King of Saxony males displaying.
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
On the other hand, Bowerbirds are easy in the wild in Australia and New Guinea; go to Lamington in Queensland and you cannot miss Satin and Regent. However, Flame in New Guinea is something else! In PNG I saw 15 species of BoP in 2 weeks including Raggiana, Greater, Lesser, King, Twelve-wired and King of Saxony males displaying.
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I don't suppose you have got photographs of any of them you can upload? Might be handy for the Bird-of-Paradise photographic guide elsewhere on the forum if so!
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
On the other hand, Bowerbirds are easy in the wild in Australia and New Guinea; go to Lamington in Queensland and you cannot miss Satin and Regent. However, Flame in New Guinea is something else! In PNG I saw 15 species of BoP in 2 weeks including Raggiana, Greater, Lesser, King, Twelve-wired and King of Saxony males displaying.
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I think this is generally the case with most Australian fauna, but I do think it is ultimately quite good in some ways as it means travelling over there and seeing the land and culture and fauna and getting the bigger picture.
 
1.Lion-tailed Macaque
2.Sumatran Rhino
3.Kagu
4.Banteng
5.Goliath Heron

(Haven’t seen Kagu at Toledo and Sumatran rhino and lion-tailed macaque at Cincinnati)
 
That's a difficult question, but the first two are fixed on their position:

1. Jentink's duiker
2. Topi
3. Suni or royal antelope
4. Klipspringer
5. Serow

2.-4. could be of any species or subspecies.
 
The time has once again come to update these lists!

In June I spent 10 grueling days in Ujung Kulon, Java but only managed footprints and dung of my #1 species. I did get a nice captive surprise later in the trip from my honorable mentions list! I also had the privilege of seeing and photographing 3 Red Colobus species on my Uganda/Kenya trip in early 2021.


When I last left off:

1. Javan Rhino (almost!)
2. Indri
3. Saola
4. Beaked Whale (any species)
5. Narwhal

Honorable mentions for:

1. Marsupial Mole
2. Red Colobus (3 species!) :p
3. Dingiso
4. Water Chevrotain
5. Otter Civet :cool:
6. Chiru

So the top 5 remains the same and I'll cap honorable mentions at 5 now:

Honorable mentions update:

1. Marsupial Mole
2. Dingiso
3. Water Chevrotain
4. Pink Fairy Armadillo
5. Chiru
 
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