Animal Diaries Archive

Challenging Weather

30 March 2007

This week has provided us with some interesting weather for the birds to fly in. As the temperature is dropping and all of the birds are eating more food to keep themselves warm, this week has sprung upon us some quite windy days. These windy days are great for some of the birds like the Major Mitchell's and the Red- collared Lorikeets as they absolutely love carving up the sky in these types of conditions. On the other hand however, there are some birds that have a little more difficulty flying in the Crocoseum on the windier days.

The birds that tend to have the most trouble are our bigger critters. Amelio the Wedge-tailed Eagle and Djagarna the Black-necked Stork are as big as it gets but also the Green Winged Macaws tend to find it hard too. I think that this is simply due to these types of Macaws being quite heavy for the type of wings that they have. As Djagarna is flying higher in the sky she can cope with the wind a bit better, as up in the sky there is nothing to run into and she can spend as much time as she needs up there to work out how she can get into the Crocoseum safely to touch down in the middle. Amelio on the other hand who has not had that much flying experience and who also has to hit a pin point target is the bird with the most difficult routine in the windier conditions. Sometimes with a big tail wind he simply can not stop and finds himself literally blown out of the Crocoseum. When this happens he usually lands on the ground just outside and after sitting there for a few moments to get his head around what just happened, he will normally find his way back into the Crocoseum.

All of these types of conditions are ones that the birds, with plenty of practice will get used to, or gain enough skill to be able to fly effectively in them. Unfortunately because it is not a condition that happens regularly it can take some time for our birds to learn the necessary skills.