Animal Diaries Archive

An intelligent bird

25 August 2006

Djagarna the Black-necked Stork (or Jabiru) is the bird of the week this time. For the last couple of weeks we have been working on getting Djagarna to fly from her aviary, which is a good distance from the Crocoseum, over the top of the large eucalypts that are behind the big screen, down past the big screen and into the middle of the arena. We have been using a technique called 'backward staging' for her. This basically means that we start at the end and work backwards to the beginning. What this allows us to do is fly Djagarna into an experience that she knows well and is confident with. She has progressed so quickly and despite what you might think, she is a very intelligent bird.

Now, once she lands in the Crocoseum she gets her favourite treat which is fish. She absolutely loves these and will pretty much do anything to get them. One of the more unusual food items that she enjoys is eels. Even though it is hard for us to put them in her bucket because they are so slippery, her beak picks them up no worries at all. She certainly is a character. You can see in this week's photo Djagarna way off in the distance as she makes her way into the Crocoseum for those tasty fish.