What are the Rarest Birds you've Seen in Zoos.

[Mr. Kiwi]

Birds with a CR or EW are welcome or Birds not many zoos keep. (check ZootierlisteHomepage )

 

[Mr. Kiwi]

Birds with a CR or EW are welcome or Birds not many zoos keep. (check ZootierlisteHomepage )

For those who will go the "rare in zoo" route it must be kept in less than 5 zoos.

 

[Mr. Kiwi]

E.g

EW

Guam Kingfisher
Socorro Dove

CR

Blue-billed Curassow
Edward's Pheasant
Guam Rail
California Condor
Hooded Vulture
Ruppel's Vulture
Blue-throated Macaw
Red-fronted Macaw
Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
Bali Myna

 

[Sicarius]

I'm saying imperial amazon will be my rarest bird species, even though I have seen spix' macaws several times.

 

[gerome]

I know it is not rare , I am just susprised how few zoos keep it is common kingfisher, if you include the european sub-species and the indian sub-species, it is still only 6 zoos. But I only quickly checkt it.

 

[Evirapo]

Yellow Casqued Hornbill, it’s vulnerable species and only 2 zoos have them

 

[cerperal]

If we're allowed to talk about birds rarely kept in captivity as well as those that are endangered, I'm happy to finally deploy the fishing owls and birds of paradise I saw in Prague. Not exactly an unknown collection but at least in Europe I would wager most Zoochat members are yet to see Pel's fishing owl, Puffy fish owl, raggiana or king bird of paradise.

That said, I almost certainly saw some incredibly rare species (in both regards) during childhood trips to Birdworld. But I cannot say for certain what as that was a bit before my accurately-record-every-species phase.

 

[birdsandbats]

The rarest captive bird I've seen is Puerto Rican Parrot.

 

[Dassie rat]

Philippine eagle - Planckendael
Kagu - Berlin Zoo

 

[Natural Historian]

Birds with a CR or EW are welcome or Birds not many zoos keep. (check ZootierlisteHomepage )

The rarest bird I've seen was probably the Kagu at Toledo Zoo

 

[USZOOfan42]

The rarest bird I've seen was probably the Kagu at Toledo Zoo

I didn’t realize kagus were that rare!

 

[USZOOfan42]

I think the rarest bird I’ve seen is kagu, emperor penguin, guam kingfisher or Pesquet’s Parrot.

 

[JVM]

I have seen Guam Kingfisher, Kagu and Puerto Rican Parrot -- in fact, all three of these species and Guam Rail are all held at Lincoln Park Zoo.

 

[turkeyfox]

In addition to Guam kingfisher and Guam rail at Milwaukee, and Kagu at Lincoln Park, I've seen whooping cranes at Milwaukee and Houston. Not so rare nowadays but they were down to 23 individuals at one point.

 

[FBBird]

In addition to Guam kingfisher and Guam rail at Milwaukee, and Kagu at Lincoln Park, I've seen whooping cranes at Milwaukee and Houston. Not so rare nowadays but they were down to 23 individuals at one point.

If we’re going down that road, I’ll claim Laysan Teal, reportedly once down to one bird and her eggs. I’ve seen them in zoos, and even bred a few at home

 

[birdsandbats]

Many of the species being listed here, while extremely rare in the wild, are not rare in zoos at all.

 

[aardvark250]

Philippine eagle, santa cruz ground dove, spix macaw, yellow casqued hornbill, blakiston's fish owl, great slaty woodpecker just to name a few

 

[CarnotaurusSastrei]

CR
Baer's Pochard
Bali Myna
Blue-Billed Curassow
Blue-Crowned Laughingthrush
Blue-Throated Macaw
Guam Rail
Puerto Rican Parrot

EW
Guam Kingfisher

≤5 Zoos
African Jacana
Black Guillemot
Flying Steamer Duck
Lesser Green Broadbill
Malaysian Pied Hornbill
Piping Plover (Seen at Lincoln Park Zoo in 2019, but currently held by 0 institutions according to Zootierliste)
Puerto Rican Parrot
Razorbill
Screaming Piha
Storm's Stork
Wattled Curassow
White-Throated Bee-Eater

 

[Jennings]

Gough Island Moorhens, which were not all that uncommon in UK zoos about twenty years ago but which have no AFAIK completely died out in captivity.

 

[Tim May]

Of all the bird species that I've seen, possibly the one most rarely kept in zoos is the New Guinea harpy eagle.

ZooTierListe only shows it ever being kept in two European collections, Edinburgh and Antwerp. And that was the same individual that was moved from Edinburgh Zoo to Antwerp Zoo.

New Guinea harpy eagle; Antwerp; 1990 - ZooChat