Passerines 3: Bali Starling

The last, and rarest, of the starlings we have at Bristol is one of the most beautiful of the group, the Bali Starling (or Mynah) Leucopsar rothschildi. Only scientifically described in 1912, it is endemic to the island of Bali in Indonesia, and is the only surviving endemic vertebrate. Bali is densely populated, and the resultant habitat destruction resulting of conversion of its native habitat for agriculture means that it is classed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.

Unlike most starlings, which often feed on the ground, Bali Starlings feed by gleaning through the canopy, searching for fruit and insects. They nest in holes in trees, both those excavated by other birds and natural cavities. As with most starlings, male and female are identical, and the song of the male is a series of wheezes and crackles.

Passerines 2: Asian Glossy Starling

Asian Glossy Starling

Living in the forest of birds, where they usually make their presence known by a typical metallic call from among the foliage, is a small group of Asian Glossy Starlings, Aplonis panayensis. Aplonis starlings are widespread throughout the islands of SE Asia, with at least 21 species described, several with endemic subspecies, and further three are known to have become extinct, with a fourth, the Pohnpei Starling A. pelzelni, either extinct or on the verge of extinction.

Passerines 1: Superb Starling

Superb Starling

Kicking off a new series on the various passerines we have at Bristol we begin with one of the more widely kept and exhibited of the passerines to be seen in zoos around the world, the Superb Starling Lamprotornis (formerly Spreo) superbus. Starlings on the whole make good aviary exhibits, being fairly large for passerines and many species feed on both fruit and animal matter, which makes feeding them easier. In the past supplying a variety of live insects for aviary birds, especially when they were raising young, was quite a chore, and usually expensive, but modern live food commercial companies now exist and an increasing number of insectivorous species are being bred successfully. Starlings posed less trouble than more specialised smaller passerines, as the animal part of their diet could be supplied in the form of baby mice, which were a lot easier to breed in bulk than say crickets.

New arrivals: European Souslik

New Arrivals: European Souslik

European souslik, S.citellus

Some recent visitors to the zoo will have noticed that the old prairie dog enclosure now appears to be empty. More careful (and watchful) visitors, especially at quieter times, will see that we have added a new species to the collection, a group of young European souslik, Spermophilus citellus. These in many ways resemble in their behaviour the American prairie dogs, but are much smaller, about the size of a half grown guinea pig (cavy if you are an American reader). There are actually six pairs in the enclosure for now, but with luck by next year the numbers will have considerably increased.

Special delivery - a very important birth

One of Bristol Zoo's signature animals is Okapi. We were the first UK zoo to hold them and also the first to breed them, and practically all of the world's captive Okapi have Bristol Zoo animlas in their family tree. We were therefore especially pleased that we now have a new addition to the zoo, with the birth of the latest calf a few week's ago. Here is the press release from t6he Bristol Zoo website,a nd the accompanying photo of the mother and calf: