Latest news with #breedingSeason
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Four penguin chicks hatch at Birdland in breeding success
Four penguin chicks have hatched at a bird park in what has been described as its most successful breeding season in almost a three of the established breeding pairs of Humboldt penguins at Birdland Park & Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, laid two eggs each, resulting in the park's largest clutch since said this breeding season has been "especially significant" as the pairs - Pablo and Sunny, Broady and Kat, and Big Mac and Cookie - are all first time parents.A fifth egg is said to be emerging, and a sixth is under close incubation. Keepers removed one egg from each pair for artificial incubation to reduce pressure on the adult birds and increase the chances of one of their eggs was infertile, Big Mac and Cookie had a chick hatch on 26 May, weighing just 61g (2oz), making it one of the smallest chicks to be recorded at has now grown to 787g (28oz) and is being fed three times a day. It will soon transition from formula to said Pablo and Sunny's nest-reared chick did not survive but the second hatched via artificial incubation at 91g (3oz).Now 42 days old, it weighs 1.8kg (4lb). Birdland said its hand-reared chicks are fed a "carefully managed diet" of fish, squid, vitamins and salt paste, which is delivered via pipette and adapted as they grow."Humboldt penguins are listed as vulnerable in the wild due to habitat loss, climate change, overfishing and pollution," the park said."Birdland supports global conservation efforts, including a census in Peru carried out with Penguins International and plans for a staff member to join wild monitoring projects later this year."The chicks are part of a programme contributing to the coordinated effort of safeguard the species for future generations.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Ten Tasmanian devil joeys discovered during pouch check of endangered marsupials
Researchers at Aussie Ark have found 10 Tasmanian devil joeys during the first pouch check of the endangered marsupial's 2025 breeding season, which runs from February to June each year.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘Really amazing': joy as 10 Tasmanian devil joeys emerge from Australia's biggest mainland breeding program
Ten tiny, egg-like joeys have been confirmed as the newest members of mainland Australia's largest fleet of Tasmanian devils. It comes after the first pouch check of the 2025 breeding season at Aussie Ark's Barrington Tops sanctuary in northern NSW. A recent deluge that brought more than 600mm to the region didn't rain on the devils' parade, with a spokesperson saying all the joeys, mums and dads were safe. Operation manager, Dean Reid, said up to four more devils are expected to conceive in June in the final breeding window of the year. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'It's really amazing to be able to handle a devil … and see those amazing devils come out of the pouch,' Reid said on Thursday. 'These gnarly, big, chunky animals have little baby joeys in their pouch. 'We've got four more females that didn't have them and one we missed, so more joeys to come.' The Tasmanian devils' mating season occurs over three cycles from February to June, with birth coming after 21 days' gestation. When catching the devils, the conservationists found there was a mix of joeys from the first and second cycle conceptions. Reid also said the joeys' fathers and mothers were doing well. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'While we have the females, we do a full health check, we're doing body scores, weight and giving them preventatives,' Reid said. 'In a couple of months, we're going to see little tiny joeys running around.' The announcement comes on World Environment Day.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Creepy cries in Kahala aren't ghosts
KAHALA, Hawaii (KHON2) — You are not alone if you have been hearing eerie wailing sounds late at night on Oahu. 3D tech saves injured pueo in Hawaii; first for vets A strange noise recently startled a Kahala resident, but it turns out it is part of nature's annual ritual. The sound could be mistaken for a baby crying. Kahala resident Sherli Micik's son recently recorded it right outside their home just past midnight. 'It was kind of a moaning sound and it was very disturbing, but I'm sort of one of those people that says, 'You know, whatever it is, it's not hurting me,'' Micik said. 'And then my son comes in and says, 'We got to find out what this is!'' The haunting cry is not a baby in distress, it is the sound of the Wedge Tailed Shearwater, which means breeding season is here. These native seabirds spend most of their life flying over the ocean and come ashore around this time of year to nest in burrows — often in coastal neighborhoods like Kahala and Windward Oahu. 'The calls attract other ones into an area that they feel like it's a safe neighborhood for them to raise their baby,' said Hawaii Wildlife Center president Linda Elliott. 'And so you'll hear at night they won't be in trees, they'll be on the ground.' The birds return to the same areas each year, with their numbers increasing in recent times. Hawaiʻi's top 10 invasive species wreak havoc on ecosystem each year 'And those sounds go from sounding like babies in distress to moaning. And it is, you know, kind of gives you that chicken skin at night when you're walking out and you're hearing all of this,' Elliott said. It was a mystery that grew more unsettling by the night until Micik learned the sounds were just part of the Islands' natural charm. 'Only when it was dark, usually between midnight and sunrise and who knew what these creatures were,' she said. 'I love nature and the fact that I wish they'd just hurry up and breed! You don't have to keep making that noise.' Experts said the Shearwaters will quiet down by November, once their nesting season ends and the chicks fly out to sea for the first time. Until then, the night may sound a little wilder than usual. Check out more news from around Hawaii for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Times
16-05-2025
- Times
Attacking magpies can't stand the rain in Spain, say dazed locals
In scenes reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's horror film, birds have been attacking people in the southern Spanish town of Linares. Indignant residents have taken to protecting their heads with umbrellas after numerous attacks in several parts of the town in Jaén province in the Andalusia region. The culprits have been identified as members of the Iberian magpie species. Authorities have tried to allay concerns by saying that the attacks are not malicious. • Visitors to Spain's tallest mountain will face 'eco-tax' The town council has issued a communiqué saying that they do not mean to cause harm but are 'an instinctive and temporary response typical of their breeding season'. The episode began with the occasional isolated peck but has become a regular battle, locals told
