Animal Diaries Archive

Djagarna Is Now The Star

3 December 2004

Well, we are now officially into summer, and with that comes the heat. The last couple of days here at the Zoo are certainly giving us the impression that this year is going to be a corker of a summer. Even though it is warming up rapidly the birds are still really enjoying their flying. Because of the temperatures during the middle of the day we have been getting in a little earlier each day to give them all a good fly around in the morning while it is nice and cool. Everyone gets a crack at these early morning flights from Elmo through to Warrego, Star and of course the macaws. Because it is so quiet around the Zoo at these times we are able to keep good audio communication between us and the birds and this gives them a bit more confidence. This in turn inspires most of them to really take to the air and do incredibly spectacular circling and cart wheeling flights around the Zoo. Now, during the shows we see that the macaws regularly fly high up into the air, but how's this, Djagarna the Jabiru (who is consistently doing shows now) got way, way, way up in the sky (70 to 80 meters in fact) and really impressed a large audience on Bob's birthday. This might not sound that impressive on paper, but remember, what goes up must come down. When your wingspan is over seven feet, you have long lanky legs three feet in length and you need to come down quickly it is not always the most graceful sight to see... especially when you are learning. It does provide a laugh for the audience though, as Djagarna's legs are swinging from side to side and the wings are being opened and closed without any real rhythm. However, she always seems to make it down in one piece and her style is gradually improving. It certainly makes for a fantastic end to the show on a daily basis.

Profile: Tok, Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

Tok is a very funny fella to work with. He is always laughing at one thing or another. Tok was bred here at Australia Zoo three years ago, up in our nursery exhibit at the front of the Zoo with all of our other kookaburras. Now Tok and is brother Tik grew up very quickly with all seven other kookaburras feeding the little ones several times a day. At about four weeks of age both of these featherless critters were removed from the nest to be hand raised. This was to help the birds become more comfortable around people so that they could be used in the wandering wildlife program. Fortunately for Tok he showed a keen interest to fly and very quickly completed his free flight training. Tok loves doing his part in the show and more importantly he loves keeping the Crocoseum clear of other kookaburras because the Crocoseum is Tok's territory and no other kookaburra is permitted to enter!