It’s been a busy summer for the Saint Louis Zoo.
Caretakers with the zoo’s bird department have seen eight baby birds hatched since April, including the rare breeding of a critically endangered horned guan—only the third such breeding ever in the U.S. On Tuesday, the zoo made the birth announcements official by posting a list of the new bird babies.
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See also: Critically Endangered Horned Guan Chicks Hatch at Saint Louis Zoo
Agnes, a king vulture chick, hatched on April 3 and is now in the Bird House habitat for visitors to see. The chick was sired by the oldest male vulture, age 45, in the care of a zoo, and Agnes’ birth marked the first time since 1991 that king vultures have had chicks for two consecutive years, according to the zoo. The worldwide vulture population is declining at an alarming rate, and eleven of 23 species are threatened.
A pair of rhinoceros hornbill birds, which are near-threatened, nested for the third year in a row and produced two chicks—a rare occurrence for this species. Hornbills have a complicated birthing system: After the 20-year-old mother lays her eggs, she seals herself in a log with mud and fruit, relying on the 15-year-old father to pass food through a tiny hole. About 30 days after the chicks hatched on March 28 and March 30, the mother broke out of the log and resealed the entrance. The chicks grew there until they were about 80 days old. They’ve recently fledged the nest and can be seen in their Bird House habitat.
On June 1, a pair of critically endangered horned guans, one of the rarest bird species in the world, hatched its second offspring, which zookeepers are caring for in a private area of the Bird House. Only two zoos have ever bred a horned guan in the U.S. Last year’s chicks were the first-ever horned guan hatchlings at the Saint Louis Zoo.
The baby horned guan may not be on display for visitors to see yet, but it’ll be hard to miss the Collie’s jays, which hatched a chick on July 5 in their nest. Follow the loud, raucous call of these strikingly blue, long-tailed birds and catch a glimpse of the new chick during feeding time.
Also on July 5, an endangered Congo peafowl hatched at the Bird House, and a baby sibling hatched three days later. The species is the national bird of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but little is known about the birds, which were only recorded as a species in 1936.
The peafowl, along with the white-headed buffalo weaver hatched on July 17, are being cared for in a private area of the Bird House.
Contact Lindsay Toler by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
