I saw a black-shouldered kite the other day whilst I was driving on the freeway, and I realised that I had never actually seen one up close in a zoo. Which of these native raptors kept in Australian zoos? (Or maybe a better question is "which of these are NOT kept in Australian zoos?") I can only recall seeing a few in zoos. (I pulled the list off Society for the Preservation of Raptors (Inc.) - Raptor Rehabilitation in Western Australia) Family Accipitridae Black-breasted Buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon) Black Kite (Milvus migrans) Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus notatus) Brahminy Kite (Milvus indus) Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus) Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrhocephalus) Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) Letter-winged Kite (Elanus scriptus) Little Eagle (Aquila morphnoides) Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata) Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus) Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis) Square-tailed Kite (Lophoictinia isura) Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans) Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) Whistling Kite (Milvus sphenurus) White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) Family Falconidae Australian Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) Australian Little Falcon (Falco longipennis) Black Falcon (Falco subniger) Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos) Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
I've never seen Black-shouldered Kites, Collared Sparrowhawk, Letter-wing Kite, Osprey, Red Goshawk, Spotted Harrier, Black Falcon, Brown Falcon or Grey Falcon. But I've seen all the others.
Not exactly "in" the zoo, more like "at" the zoo, my father and I saw a wild Brown Falcon while at Monarto Zoo a couple of years back Brown Falcon at Monarto Zoo
Top pics! The keepers say that there are a couple wedge-tailed eagles that hang around Healesville Sanctuary. Never seen them though.
We saw something vaguely Wedgie-shaped soaring high above Healesville during one of the bird shows a few years back ... it was upsetting the birds at the show and they had to cancel part of the show until it moved on.
I'm pretty sure almost all, if not every one, of those species listed is displayed at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney.
Haha, I'd rather go look at their animals in real life than their website. Each to their own. They have a large raptor area with tall light aviaries and pairs (in most cases) of each species. Also plenty of owl species.
