The little booth by the hippos? The ostriches are no where near the hippos. Did you mean the baboons?
Perhaps she has a nest nearby. No one has mentioned a nest or eggs lately but if I remember last year correctly eggs did show up August of last year.
K
kswiston
Whoops, yeah, I meant the baboons. The hippos have a lookout to the side of their enclosure as well, but it looks at part of the giraffe enclosure. I got the two mixed up.
I did see something that looked like an ostrich egg, but I wasn't sure if it was real. Do ostriches just lay their eggs on the ground with no attempt at a nest?
Ostriches don't put much work into a conventional nest. The parents kind of just scrap out a shallow nest into the ground. It's a communal nest so both Eunice and Miss Ellie would be laying in it. If the there is an egg or more eggs the keepers have probably removed spare eggs they don't need and want. The zoo doesn't need or want 20 baby ostriches for obvious reasons. Odds would be 2-4 eggs would be left to be incubated. It's been quite awhile since the zoo had chicks. The zoo does nothing to ensure the survival of the eggs. They let nature take its course. If chicks happen fine. If not its not a big deal. They would be more mindful if there was a recommendation to get some chicks out of Orville and the girls.
This is the younger female, Eunice. She isn't really displaying - she goes through a prolonged ritual before she lays an egg to one side of the other of the viewing stand. So far this year she has laid three that I know of. I saw one lying there and another day saw her lay one. Last year none of them were fertile, according to a keeper. This year I haven't asked.
The older female, Miss Ellie has a shallow spot on the hilltop near there where she sometimes laid eggs but I haven't seen any myself the last two years, and she may have other spots.
How do you tell the girls apart Mr. Wrinkly? I know Eunice had a band on her leg when she arrived last year but I don't see anything in the photo so is there a second trick?
The red band is still on - I enlarged the picture and thought I could pick out the band high on her left leg. Now I am not so sure but the behavior is still Eunice. She regularly can be found at that spot, walking back and forth and dipping her head. I have heard people saying she is trying to get out, she wants something to eat, she's after you, and so on. Actually she walks back and forth for quite a while, bending and peering back and forth. Then she either walks away or she turns around and lays an egg which usually rolls down the hill beside the lookout.
Eunice was smaller and more agile-seeming than Miss Ellie last year but that has probably changed as she must be full-grown now. She also either has a droopy left wing or just holds it differently.
In this picture she look dark like the male, Orville, but he is bigger and seldom goes down there, in my experience. He challenged me once at the other viewing spot and was right up as close as he could get, moving up and down quickly, as tall and as low as he could get, opening his mouth wide, flapping his wings.
Trust you to have all of the tips Mr Wrinkly. I'm pretty tickled that I didn't get who had the band wrong. But you certainly know who is who using multiple means. Why would I be surprised though? You are always awesome.
