Animal Diaries Archive

Three new residents

26 August 2005

We are extremely delighted to announce that we now have three new residents in our Rainforest Aviary! These birds are a male and female Glossy Ibis named Guisseppe and Gypsy respectively, and a female Eclectus Parrot named Rosie.

The two new Glossy Ibises are making great companions for our long time resident Glossy Ibis, Gonzo. Gonzo just loves having these guys around, as previous to their arrival he was a solo type of character who just minded his own business. Now he is never far from his two new companions. In fact, as soon as they got acquainted on the first day, these three seemed to hit it off. There was no wandering around the aviary trying to find feed bowls or the ponds - not with Gonzo the tour guide! Visitors always comment on the exquisite irridescent purple plumage of the Glossy Ibis, and we are very happy that we now have three of these beautiful birds.

Our other new addition, the very pretty Rosie, was put into the aviary to become the new girlfriend of our male Eclectus Parrot, Russell. Before Rosie came along Russell was hitched to another girl name Rhubarb. Rhubarb is now part of our off-display breeding program and Russell now has the new girl. Truth to tell, I do not think Russell cares that Rhubarb is gone because he and Rosie hit it off straight away and he is even sweeter to her than he was to Rhubarb. Russell started smooching with Rosie the first time he laid eyes on her. So we are very happy with this new match. Russell and Rosie are two of the most popular birds in the aviary, due in part to their brilliant colours - red for Rosie and green for Russell.