Do you have any idea many Queleas they had or where they went ?
Weavers in UK Zoos.
- Thread starter Nanook
- Start date
Do you have any idea many Queleas they had or where they went ?
I had a look at your photo but I don`t think it is a weaver, the body shape and bill are not those of a weaver I`m sure. My first thought was a Saffron Finch but without checking I don`t know.
Thank-you. It has now been confirmed as a Saffron Finch and I have hit myself with a VHS video (I still use them) as a punishment for my stupidity.
Sewerby had a pair (there have been other pairs in the past, but never more than one at a time) and they departed to the interior of a Brown Rat along with most of the other birds in the aviary. Hopefully that aviary has now been successfully rat-proofed and it is looking as though the programme to eradicate the vast numbers of Brown Rats in the zoo (this year has seen dozens of them all over the place) is finally showing signs of success, although it has meant moving birds out of several aviaries/parts of aviaries.
Ouch!! - but I am sure you are not that Andrew.
I was on this occasion!
This thread reminds me that when I was in charge of the animal section of a big pet store in the late 1990s, I ordered some Red-billed Quelea. Lovely birds. I even had a label prepared, explaining to customers of the shop that this was arguably the most numerous wild bird on the planet but that we shouldn't be complacent about that, because the Passenger Pigeon had once held that title and is now extinct. The label went on to describe how the Passenger Pigeon had been exterminated by man. This is an example of the way a common species can be used to relate information about conservation of wildlife. This was only in a pet shop, but zoos should also be adopting such tactics.