The Red-capped manakin is well known to recipients of web-videos as the “Moon Walk” bird. That remarkable display of zipping back and forth by incredibly fast foot motion is its courtship behavior, which is taken to extremes by the various manakins. While most of the 146 species are South American, this manakin is found from Southeastern Mexico through Central America, to Ecuador.
For decades this beautiful South American bird has been bred in American zoos and is now established as a self-sustaining population of more than 500. Birds bred in the US have been sent around the world. The brilliant color is dependent upon diet, so zoo birds are provided food rich in carotenoids. It is the national bird of Trinidad.
Found mostly in Brazil, as well as bordering parts of Bolivia and Paraguay, this uniquely colored jay could be seen in several American zoos in the 1970s, but has not been imported for many years. The DWA’s specimen, received through the cooperation of the Brazilian Government in 2000, is probably the only one outside of South America.
Like the Green oropendola, this species comes from Northeastern South America. Its icy blue eyes contrast with its black feathers. The yellow tail feathers of oropendolas are prized by Native Americans for use in elaborate head dresses. Oropendolas prefer building their nests over water, and several can always be observed over the Orinoco crocodiles. Both Green and Crested oropendolas have bred at the DWA.
These enormous grackle relatives are one of several species that build the hanging nests, looking like hairy bags, which can be seen in various places in the Orinoco rainforest. Males are much larger than females. The aquarium’s specimens are very fond of crickets and other insects and will come down to visitor level when their keeper provides them. They are skillful at picking them up with their beautiful two-colored beaks.
Not seen in collections until the 1960s, this strangely beautiful bird from the cool Andean forests of Colombia and Ecuador was kept by a number of places in the 1970s and ’80s, and several were hatched. Today it is rare in captivity, but the DWA has recently been repeatedly propagating it. Because its mountain habitat continues to disappear, it is considered Near Threatened.
This Mexican parrot has long been a popular pet, prized for its “talking” and “singing”. This led to trappers stealing young birds from nests wherever they could find them. In two decades, the population fell from 700,000, in the mid-1970s, to only 7,000! This decline continues, worsened by habitat destruction. However, this species breeds well in captivity, with many hatched each year. The breeding pair at the DWA have so far reared two broods of chicks in full public view.
This bird has one of the smallest ranges of any toucan along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and a small portion of Panama. It is not rare there, but has hardly ever been seen in captivity. Through special permits from the Government of Panama, the DWA received several birds, and the world’s first captive breeding took place in Dallas in 2008.
Though found from Mexico to Brazil, this primitive bird has never been common in captivity. Chicks were hatched in California in the 1970s, but the species had long vanished from US collections by the time several were imported from Panama by the DWA in 2009. The large eggs are a beautiful shade of blue.
Always extremely rare in captivity, this subtly beautiful toucan is common in its limited range in Colombia and Venezuela. Several arrived at the DWA through the cooperation of the Venezuelan conservation organization, FUNZPA.
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