Ruff, Cottage Aviary, May 2019

I've been waiting for their ruffs to develop and this one is looking more colourful than its friends. They seem to like this far corner of the aviary while their little pond is in the opposite corner, next to the public path. They never stop moving.

I think the one in your photo is as showy as he will get this year. We can hope for proper ruffs next year and fancier ones the year after. I can't help thinking that a little more cover in the form of some tufts of grass and a shrub or two on the left of the aviary, plus some small ground-feeding birds like linnets, would encourage them to use the space of the aviary better.
I would also like to see a label on the aviary, as they have been there since 13th September last year!

Labelling on most of the aviaries at that end of the zoo is non-existent. And then there's male orang, Wousan, who's been here for 2 years now without a photo and a potted history

Oh well, at least the restaurant coffee is labelled now.