Manukura, the world’s only white kiwi, has successfully come out of surgery to remove stones from her gizzard. Although she looks like an albino, she’s actually a rare colour morph of the usual brown for her North Island Brown Kiwi species.
These birds often swallow stones to help digest food and it’s thought the six month old chick just swallowed too many stones.
Photo : Getty
When we asked Sir David Attenborough if he thought there was still life out there to be discovered I don’t think either of us expected so many to be found recently in just one area! The WWF have been working on the Frontier Report, which shows that over the last ten years an incredible 1,060 previously unknown species have been found on the island.
This brightly coloured bird is the wattled smoky honeyeater…others include a frog with fangs, a tree kangaroo and 2.5 metre long river shark. It’s thought the relatively low human population of the area has aided the vast variety of wildlife though now illegal logging is stripping the island’s forests.
Photo : WWF
An update on the lost penguin found in New Zealand…after concerns he had become lethargic from mistakenly eating sand believing it to be snow, Wellington Zoo are now caring for the bird. The penguin has already undergone two operations to pump the sand from its stomach and faces another. His new nickname stems from the children’s film, Happy Feet. Also, he may have found a way home after a kindly businessman leading an expedition to Antarctica next year has offered him a lift!
Photo : AP
Scientists have found that pigeons recognise ‘friendly faces’ who are much more likely to feed them and gravitate towards them…instead of wasting time on the people who are likely to just chase them away!
Up to 28 million pigeons live in Europe, with the majority in urban areas surrounded by humans who provide the majority of their food. In an experiment, the birds quickly learnt to differentiate between a ‘friendly’ feeder and an ‘agressive’ one who would chase the birds away, even when they swapped coats! This implies the pigeons are using distinctive human characteristics to tell the people apart.
One poor Emperor penguin has turned up in sunny New Zealand believed to have drifted off course when fishing for krill. It’s the first time in 44 years one has been found on the island. The youngster is believed to be only 10 months old and only 80cm high (adults can grow to 122cm). Despite everything the penguin appears in fairly good health with a reasonable fat deposit so scientists are hoping the wayward bird will figure out its own way home. The penguin has been seen eating sand possibly believing it to be snow which it would normally eat to take in liquid.
Photo : Richard Gill/Department of Conservation/EPA
Sorry for the absence of posts…I’ve been on the lovely island of Kos for a few weeks (apparently getting away from the British weather’s run up to Wimbledon!) It’s part of a chain of volcanoes and this time of the year is breeding season for their many swallows. Their distinctive forked tail marked them out as they darted across pools gathering water as they swooped past…and most walls or alcoves had a mud nest welded on firmly. This time of the year, most of the chicks were just big enough to poke their heads out to keep an eye out for their parents returning to feed them!
Eden are continuing their celebration of Sir David Attenborough’s 85th birthday with a live Q&A session with the man himself…and you can join in! If you have a burning question for Sir David about his many decades of wildlife exploration, add it to Eden’s website (or tweet to @Eden_TV) and maybe you’ll get your answer! Ben Fogle, another Eden explorer and adventurer will be putting the questions to him next Tuesday 31st May and it will be streamed live on their website.
The RSPB are encouraging people to help their local wildlife…by providing mud! After such a hot and dry Spring so far, some birds are finding it hard to build their nests without the necessary mud. Swallows and martins use mud to build delicate nests and without the sticky mud, the nests are liable to dry out and fall from the wall, often with the chicks inside.
To help, the RSPB suggest putting mud in a shallow container such as a bin lid or creating muddy patches at the edges of ponds or borders.
Good news! Lady, one of the world’s oldest wild ospreys has laid three eggs in her nest so experts believe her 50th chick could soon hatch. Ospreys normally only live for 8 years…Lady is 26 and has returned to the same nesting site for 21 years and produced 48 chicks. The Scottish Wildlife Trust have a webcam trained on her nest to hopefully catch the moment they hatch.
Photo : Russell Cheyne/Reuters
The kiwi is one of the island of New Zealand’s most endangered flightless birds…so how did one little bird make it all the way to Russia? The kiwi has been seen in a park in Sochi near the port leading to suggestions he was a stowaway on a cruise ship.
There are thought to be only around 72,000 surviving birds so this rogue bird is being closely monitored.
