October brings about many changes at the zoo. The switch to winter hours occured on October 1, meaning the zoo closes at 4pm instead of 6pm, bringing all the zookeepers to the zoo at the same time instead of in split shifts. Wood cutouts of animals and fairy-tale creatures among other things start springing up all over the grounds in preparation for Zoo Boo. And, as the temperatures continue to drop, it is time to winterize the Bird Yard. The migration of the flamingos, ducks, and geese from the Bird Yard exhibit occured last Thursday. Keepers rounded up the birds carrying them down to the Animal Support Building where they were checked over, weighed, and photographed before being placed in their indoor holding. The Animal Support Building is once again filled with noisy quacking and honking.
Our newest addition, the flamingo chick hatched this July has grown like a weed! As you can see in the picture below, it is almost the same size as the rest of the flock and is starting to get the pink feathers of an adult. Feather samples have been sent to a lab to determine the sex of the little one. We will continue to give the flamingos access to their outside holdings during the nice sunny days in October, but it is nice to be able to close them in at night to make sure they stay toasty warm. Hopefully next spring will come quickly and we can look forward to moving them back to the Bird Yard for everyone to enjoy.
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