Gems of the Jungle, April 2018

ID anyone?

Grosbeak starling

@vogelcommando a k a scissor-billed starling. Some of the these birds at Newquay are so tame they may perch on the shoulders of visitors in the walk-through aviary.

@gentle lemur : I knew they are also called scissor-billed starlings, I didn't know they could become so "tame". I've taken care and bred this very intresting species several times but the birds I took care for were alway very shy and as soon as I entered the aviary they flied to the farmost corner of their enclosure !

@vogelcommando I only added the alternative name because it seems to be more common in English. I first saw them at Chester, when they shared an aviary with Timor sparrows and fruit dove in the orang building: looking back they may have been a little shy to start with, but they do well free-flying in the Monsoon Forest now, and they also made a good show in Newquay's little Tropical House before moving into the new walk-through Gems of the Jungle. I did wonder if the tamest birds had been hand-reared.

Many thanks, both!