World of Birds: Bee-Eater Exhibit. June 12, 2022. This aviary currently houses White-Throated Bee-Eater, White-Fronted Bee-Eater, Buff-Crested Bustard, Snowy-Crowned Robin-Chat, and Blue-Headed Wood-Dove. An additional small tree structure is positioned to the left of the artificial mudbank on the left side of the viewing area. A large artificial mudbank is aligned with the edge of the viewing area on the right and runs most of the depth of the aviary. This mudbank is full of nesting holes which the zoo fills with mud to entice the White-Throated Bee-Eaters to excavate and breed. The sand mound to the back left is preferred by the White-Fronted Bee-Eaters, who burrow and nest in that portion of the habitat. This enclosure is open-fronted. The zoo hosts bee-eater feedings here where they toss live crickets into the air for the bee-eaters to swoop down and catch.
From photos, this is one of the nicest looking aviaries in World of Birds. At one point the zoo had a beehive on the roof of the building where they would harvest live bees for the birds, which made for a really wonderful presentation. Is this still the case or has it been relegated to just the crickets?
@pachyderm pro I have never seen them release bees into this space, but there are still beehives on the roof. I can imagine they may be extra cautious with that technique nowadays, given that this is an open-fronted, indoor habitat and many people do have bee sting allergies.
@ThylacineAlive I remembered where I got this idea from - it was a segment from the the Bronx Zoo TV show on Animal planet. They drop a screen to prevent the bees from entering the guest area. Looks like a really engaging presentation.
@pachyderm pro Can't say I've ever seen this, though I have seen the beehives on the roof so I'm sure it's something they do on occasion. Could explain why sometimes I've found the screen down seemingly inexplicably. I've never made much of an attempt to catch the feeding times.
