Any prairie-chicken not known to be attwatteri will be pinnatus. Honestly a species-level option for Greater Prairie-Chicken should not even exist.
Subspecies held in the USA, for ZTL
- Thread starter TinoPup
- Start date
Seen the birds with my own eyes. Certainly Greater. Last Lesser I saw in the US was in the early 2000s at Reid Park Zoo.
Re dug into this one, and the historical population was poorly tracked and as it stands location for most imports seems to be quite unclear and the SSP states as such. So essentially it's unknown and the population is not managed to subspecies.
It existed prior to 2024 for European entries, of which there are several former holdings that I guess couldn't be identified to subspecies or were a generic population. For current US holdings though, I agree there probably aren't any that can't be narrowed down to either attwateri or pinnatus.
Now some more birds:
Crowned Cranes: From previous discussion, it was suggested that most, nearly all or possibly all Gray Crowned Cranes are the East African subspecies (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps) and same for Black Crowned Cranes with nominate (B. pavonina pavonina). Currently US entries for both species are split - randomly, it seems - between species-level and those particular subspecies. Do we have confirmation that they are all subspecific? They really should all be listed together under one option, there's not two breeding groups of generic and subspecific.
Gentoo Penguin: last I checked the US has both subspecies (Pygoscelis papua papua and P. p. ellsworthi) and they are managed separately. I don't think most zoos specify publicly which one they have, which is typical. Currently there are 3 listed for papua, 4 listed for ellsworthi, and 14 listed at species level - including 3 of the 4 listed for ellsworthi.
Southern Rockhopper Penguin: I've seen two suggestions here: one is that the entire population is Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome and should be listed as such, and another that there might be a small number of E. c. filholi and chrysocome x filholi hybrids (with Fort Worth being the specific zoo cited as possibly having them, IIRC). Currently 11 zoos are listed for E. c. chrysocome and 5 are listed at species level, 3 of which are also in the 11 listed to subspecies.
Boat-billed Heron: I've heard that at least some of the US population is the Honduran subspecies (Cochlearius cochlearius ridgwayi) but is that true, and does this apply to all or just some?
I have always heard of European Sitatunga being gratus and American being spekei, though I'm not sure what the basis of this is.
~Thylo
The three listed for papua on ZTL are accurate, plus Calgary, Omaha, SWSD and now SW Orlando as well. Though several zoos retain species level as well as ellsworthi due to one or two hybrids - which is where ZTL can be unnecessarily confusing.
It is suspected per current knowledge the current population has a good deal of European origin, which would be gratus. However, patchy records have complicated the assessment.
Moving on to more birds:
Lappet-faced Vulture: 5 of 11 zoos are double-listed at species level and for the African (nominate) subspecies. Is it known if all of our birds are African origin?
Egyptian Vulture: not many holders, and most of them are split between the eastern and western subspecies; does anyone have more information on this?
Burrowing Owl: are there any known Florida Burrowing Owls in captivity, other than at Peace River Wildlife Center? Do any of the other Florida holders have local animals perhaps?
Eurasian Eagle-owl: A few zoos are listed under the European (nominate) subspecies; is the origin for all or much of the US population known, and are these specific listings accurate?
Mousebirds: Colius colius and Colius leucocephalus are listed for Wildlife World Zoo and North Carolina Zoo respectively - both with no sources, nothing but a "1.0" to signify they are lone males. Where did this information come from and are either known to be true?
Red-billed Hornbill: currently all listed under species level (which is really sensu lato now) except one zoo listed under Northern, plus another one listed under both. Is the origin of any US birds known?
Crested Caracara: a couple of places are listed under species level / sensu lato rather than the native type cheriway, which all the others are listed under. Is there any information or sources on what the origins for the US population are?
Lappet-faced Vulture: 5 of 11 zoos are double-listed at species level and for the African (nominate) subspecies. Is it known if all of our birds are African origin?
Egyptian Vulture: not many holders, and most of them are split between the eastern and western subspecies; does anyone have more information on this?
Burrowing Owl: are there any known Florida Burrowing Owls in captivity, other than at Peace River Wildlife Center? Do any of the other Florida holders have local animals perhaps?
Eurasian Eagle-owl: A few zoos are listed under the European (nominate) subspecies; is the origin for all or much of the US population known, and are these specific listings accurate?
Mousebirds: Colius colius and Colius leucocephalus are listed for Wildlife World Zoo and North Carolina Zoo respectively - both with no sources, nothing but a "1.0" to signify they are lone males. Where did this information come from and are either known to be true?
Red-billed Hornbill: currently all listed under species level (which is really sensu lato now) except one zoo listed under Northern, plus another one listed under both. Is the origin of any US birds known?
Crested Caracara: a couple of places are listed under species level / sensu lato rather than the native type cheriway, which all the others are listed under. Is there any information or sources on what the origins for the US population are?
Vulture: there are some known African origin birds in the US, but I think many are unknown. That said, it's unlikely they'd be anything else.
Egyptian Vulture: both subspecies are present in the US in small numbers I beleive. @jayjds2 should know more.
Eurasian Eagle-Owl: other than the Siberian owls imported by LA in recent years, I've heard that all the owls in the US are phenotypically nominate, which would make sense given their geographic range and the fact that they're the most common subspecies in captivity elsewhere. BUT, I doubt that's known for 100% certain.
Red-billed hornbills: birds have been imported from various locations in Africa, though mostly from Northern range I think. Birds are likely Northern or mostly Northern, but there is a possibility of some hybridization. I've been told Sylvan Heights has a more recently imported Tanzanian.
Caracara: most zoo birds should be native rescues so I'm not sure why any US bird would be anything other than Northern. I don't think I've ever seen a caracara here signed otherwise.
~Thylo
The AZA makes no comments re subspecies in the SSP, and so yeah, echoing Thylo it's not real clear.
The 1 Colius leucocephalus is listed in the relevant RCP, so that one is valid. It also appears on NC's USDA.
Again no comments from the AZA, so unclear. Apparently the subspecies are visually distinguishable if you know what you're looking for, but that could potentially be compounded by hybrids.
Rummage all the way first, speak second.
Studbook locations show Northern, Tanzanian, and Southern were all imported and have bred. Southern appears to be isolated to Honolulu and Pana'ewa; however the other two have mixed and Tanzanian was routinely imported through the early 2010s. There is still a wild-caught Tanzanian at Milwaukee apparently. So the current population is likely significantly generic and many facilities have previously had multiple species + generics.
The only two eastern I’m aware of are one male at WBS and one bird (a female, I think) at Denver. All others (including the rest of the birds at WBS) are western. The subspecies can be distinguished visually - eastern has a pale tip on the bill and western has a black tip.
Jonathan Petersson
Well-Known Member
There are no E. c. filholi or hybrids in North America as far as I'm aware just the Northern and Western populations.
Northern Rockhopper Penguin
Montreal Biodome
New England Aquarium
Calgary Zoo
Moody Gardens
Western Rockhopper Penguin
New England Aquarium
Cincinnati Zoo
Riverbanks Zoo
Detroit Zoo
Fort Worth Zoo
Indianapolis Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
Moody Gardens
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
SeaWorld San Antonio
Shedd Aquarium
Saint Louis Zoo
As for gentoos I have the following
Antarctic Gentoo Penguin
Montreal Biodome
Central Park Zoo
Loveland Living Planet
Indianapolis Zoo
Kansas City Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
Moody Gardens
Newport Aquarium
SeaWorld Orlando
Pittsburgh Zoo
SeaWorld Texas
Saint Louis Zoo
Subantarctic Gentoo Penguin
ABQ Biopark
Calgary Zoo
Tennessee Aquarium
Detroit Zoo
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
SeaWorld San Diego
Wonders Of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium
Hybrid Gentoo Penguin
Montreal Biodome
Indianapolis Zoo
Kansas City Zoo
Wonders Of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium
There was a historic import of filholi for research years and years ago, the remnants of ended up at SeaWorld San Antonio which in turn ended up at Fort Worth Zoo with their Westerns. There are a couple individuals at the zoo that are phenotypically Eastern.
~Thylo
Jonathan Petersson
Well-Known Member
Yes I believe all of them have died off at this point from what I have heard.