Birds of Paradise in captivity

Houston Zoo does not hold ANY superb BoP. They only have the pair of reds. They shipped out their last superb a while ago.

 

@Chlidonias, that's sad news! Never mind then, thanks for the update.

@Hyak_II, also unfortunate! I will remove them in the next list.

Finally, I looked into tripadvisor a bit more and found some more info: Adventure Park PNG (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor
On this page there are pictures of raggiana bird-of-paradise, parotias (lawes'?), a brown sicklebill and another bird I can't quite identify (same picture as the sicklebill). All of the aforementioned pictures are fairly recent.
One of the reviews says they have "more than 7 spices of Birds of Paradise."

EDIT: And here's (Stopping To Smell The Orchids: A Day With The Exotic Animals of Adventure Park PNG Featured, News Reef Builders | The Reef and Marine Aquarium Blog) a video of the park, in which magnificent bird-of-paradise, parotia and raggiana bird-of-paradise can be seen (among some of the other wonderful species)

 

Just found another collection that could potentially still have birds-of-paradise: Panoramio - Photo of The Bird of Paradise @ Green World Ecological Farm (北埔綠世界)

A full update should be coming soon!

 

The Mexican park is a new one, thanks! Will look into that tonight. When starting this project I would never have assumed that there'd be any in Latin-America; I stand corrected, and very happily so!

I did find that old list indeed, what a sight that must have been! 14 Taxa of 13 species in one collection would be a very wonderful sight.
Unfortunately, though, those times have changed. I contacted a facebook page "Rainforest Habitat Lae" 4 days ago, of which the owner said he hasn't worked at the place for 2 years, when they had "Raggiana and 2 other species." He said he'd contact the new manager and get back to me, so hopefully I should receive that information sooner rather than later.

 

Did some more digging (long post ahead!). First of all, here's a link to the video Chlidonias refers to. No other birds of paradise on that channel, as far as I can see.

"Vida Silvestre" (literally meaning "Wildlife" in spanish) seems to be the research facility / park of Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, the first (only?) person to breed resplendent quetzals in captivity. The park is mentioned in a wikipedia page here as "the largest 'bird collection in the world' boasting one third of all species existing in captivity." Not sure how true this is, but he has had a species named after him: Estudillo's Curassow, Crax estudilloi

About the zoo: it seems "Vida Silvestre" has since been renamed to "El Nido" (=the nest), located in Ixtapaluca, having 320 bird species. Their speciality seems to be quetzals, but they have all kinds of other oddities as well.

This review/walkthrough of the park from May 2011 (1,5 years before the video of the birds-of-paradise) doesn't seem to make any mention of the birds-of-paradise, but I did note this quote:
"Behind the resteraunt a large building holds a large wellplanted indoor walkthrough aviary with a south asian theme viewed from a rope bridge. There are ecelectus parrots ,king parrots ,bronze winged parrots , various species of birds I do not remember the name of. This room also has a window facing into the aviary which is the library and study of Dr Lopez... all I can say is what a great place to have a study!!"
I believe that if the birds-of-paradise are held, they are held in this aviary, because the description of the youtube video said "to jesus estudillo they are that tame,that they sometimes come n eat some meal worms out of his hands,when he opens the window."

Here's a few links regarding Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, for those interested:
Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez
Places
Endangered Birds of Mexico : Dallas World Aquarium
Aviario El Nido en Ixtapaluca
El Nido
https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=The Nest (aviary)
El nido review

EDIT: Here's two pics (from 2010) titled "El Nido", confirming the birds-of-paradise are indeed kept in that facility; the youtube video seemed to still call the park by its old name, so this should clear up any potential confusion!
el nido
el nido

 

Although I don't know the exact number of species kept today, it has never been anywhere near one-third of all kept, it is well below largest collection (Walsrode) and I suspect the actual number is also below 320 species (320 would bring it into top-10 largest). Estudillo's curassow is a hybrid, not recognized by any major authority as a valid species today. Regardless, the place is very interesting and the resplendent quetzals are a speciality, but their major speciality is cracids, including some true rarities. They have more cracid species than anyone else and have bred many of them. Yes, they have (had?) 12-wired bird of paradise, but whether the species is still in the collection I do not know.

 

Thanks for those corrections! I was just going by what I read on the various sites, but they all did seem a tad biased and outdated. No matter - his bird collection is still a very wonderful one.

A few more updates:

Mega Bird and Orchid Farm, Bogor seems to have red and lesser birds-of-paradise, according to this youtube video from 2014. However, I believe this place is actually a bird market/shop that sells their birds, so I don't believe they'd fit on this list. The birds are visible at 1:10 and 2:40 in the video, respectively.

Mini Zoo Kemaman went into greater birds-of-paradise, according to this article from 2015.

A friend who visited yesterday told me Sant Alessio keeps 1,1 king and 1,0 lesser bird-of-paradise. He did not see any magnificent birds-of-paradise, meaning that they are probably still off-show, or have left the collection. I will continue listing them as being present, as they have been seen off-show in 2016.

I found this video of a lesser bird-of-paradise on youtube, but have no idea where it was made.

I believe I have found pictures of Emperor bird(s) of paradise on the facebook page of Rainforest Habitat Lae, dating from December 2015. This would be the first mention of that species on the list.

 

Just found out that Wanpi World Safari Zoo(taiwan) have BoP in here.
They also probably have king in this photo,but only the sign is still there and no animal is seen.

 

Time for another update!

BIRDS OF PARADISE IN CAPTIVITY:

Astrapia
Princess Stephanie's astrapia, Astrapia stephaniae (2)
OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (0,1,0)
The Rainforest Habitat (x,x)

Cicinnurus
Magnificent bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus magnificus (9)
NORTH AMERICA:
San Diego (4,3) hunsteini

EUROPE:
Sant Alessio (x,x) chrysopterus

ASIA:
Al Wabra (1,0)
Bali Bird Park (2,1)
Taman Mini Indonesia (x,x)

OCEANIA:
Honolulu (2,3) hunsteini
Port Moresby (1,1,4)
Port Moresby Adventure Park (x,x)
The Rainforest Habitat (x,x)

King bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus regius (9)
EUROPE:
ACTP (x,x)
Kiew (x,x)
Sant Alessio (1,1)
Villars les Dombes (x,x)
Walsrode (x,x) non-ssp & (2,2) regius

ASIA:
Al Wabra (8,10,2)
Bali Bird Park (3,3)
Jurong (1,6,1)
Wanpi World Safari Zoo (x,x)

Wilson’s bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus respublica (2)
EUROPE:
Kiew (1,0)

ASIA:
Bali Bird Park (x,x)

Epimachus
Brown sicklebill, Epimachus meyeri (2)
OCEANIA:
Port Moresby Adventure Park (x,x)
The Rainforest Habitat (x,x)

Lophorina
Superb bird-of-paradise, Lophorina superba (6)
NORTH AMERICA:
Central Park (1,1)
Dallas World Aquarium (2,1)
San Diego (5,7,1)
San Diego Safari Park (1,1)
Toledo (1,1)

OCEANIA:
Honolulu (1,3)

Manucodius
Crinkle-collared manucode, Manucodia chalybatus (1)
OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (1,1,1)

Trumpet manucode, Manucodia keraudrenii (2)
EUROPE:
Berlin (1,0)

OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (1,1,1)

Paradisaea
Greater bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea apoda (5)
EUROPE:
ACTP (x,x) apoda & (x,x) novaeguineae
Walsrode (x,x) apoda

ASIA:
Al Wabra (13.8.2) apoda & (5,9,1) novaeguineae
Lok Kawi (x,x)
Mini Zoo Kemaman (x,x)

Emperor bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea guilielmi (1)
OCEANIA:
The Rainforest Habitat (x,x)

Lesser bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea minor (23)
NORTH AMERICA:
Bronx (6,6)
Dallas World Aquarium (1,1)
Fort Worth (1,2)
Prospect Park (1,1)
San Antonio (1,2)
Toledo (0,2)

EUROPE:
Sant Alessio (1,0)
Walsrode (x,x)

ASIA:
Al Wabra (3,5)
Bali Bird Park (2,1)
Bali Zoo (x,x)
Everland (x,x)
Gembira Loka (1,1)
Green World Ecological Farm (x,x)
Jurong (5,2,1)
Khao Kheow (1,0)
Lok Kawi (x,x)
Taman Safari I (x,x)
Taman Safari II (1,1)
Taman Safari III (x,x)
Taman Mini Indonesia (x,x)

OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (1,0)
Tenkile Conservation Alliance (x,x)

Count Raggi’s bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea raggiana (17)
NORTH AMERICA:
Bronx (3,1)
Cincinnati (3,2)
Dallas World Aquarium (2,2)
Lowry Park (2,1)
Miami (1,1)
National Aviary (2,0) non-ssp & (0,1) augustavictoriae
Riverbanks (1,1)
San Diego (10,14)
San Diego Safari Park (3,1) non-ssp & (0,1) augustavictoriae
Sylvan Heights (1,1)

EUROPE:
Rotterdam (2,2)
Walsrode (2,2,x)

ASIA:
Fukouka (x,x)
Jurong (x,x)

OCEANIA:
Honolulu (0,1)
Port Moresby Adventure Park (x,x)
The Rainforest Habitat (1,1)

Red bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rubra (14)
NORTH AMERICA:
Bronx (2,2,1)
Dallas World Aquarium (1,1)
Houston (1,1)
San Antonio (1,0)

EUROPE:
ACTP (x,x)
Walsrode (2,4?)

ASIA:
Al Wabra (4,13)
Bali Bird Park (4,0)
Gembira Loka (1,0)
Jurong (1,1)
Taipei (1,0)
Taman Mini Indonesia (x,x)
Taman Safari I (x,x)
Wanpi World Safari Zoo (x,x)

Blue bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rudolphi (1)
OCEANIA:
The Rainforest Habitat (x,x)

Parotia
Lawes' parotia, Parotia lawesii (1)
OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (1,0)

Eastern parotia, Parotia helenae (1)
Port Moresby Adventure Park (x,x)

Ptiloris
Magnificent riflebird, Ptiloris magnificus (2)
ASIA:
Bali Bird Park (1,0)

OCEANIA:
Port Moresby (3,1)

Seleucidis
Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise, Seleucidis melanoleuca (7)
NORTH AMERICA:
El Nido (2,0)

EUROPE:
Walsrode (6,4?)

ASIA:
Al Wabra (5,4)
Bali bird park (3,2)
Jurong (2,1)
Taman Mini Indonesia (x,x)
Taman Safari I (x,x)

-

My source for the TRH birds is an ex-staff member who visited last week whom I contacted. They listed Raggi, Princess Stephanie's, Blue, Sickle-billed and Magnificent, but I still kept Emperor on the list as it could merely have been moved off-show.

I listed red and king bird-of-paradise for Wanpi, @aardvark250, but could you tell me what date those pictures were made? I'm not sure how much I can make of the site without understanding the language.

 

5th april,2015. The photo is from @itsallfaction , which I believe is also a zoochat member.

 

I think the list is nearing completion more and more now, so here's some statistics!
Also, could a moderator fix the binominal name for Eastern parotia in my previous post? It should, of course, be Parotia helenae.

LIST OF ZOOS BY AMOUNT OF BIRDS OF PARADISE SPECIES KEPT:
Bali Bird Park (7) - C.magnificus, C.regius, C.respublica, P.minor, P.rubra, P.magnificus, S.melanoleuca
Port Moresby (7) - A.stephaniae, C.magnificus, M.chalybatus, M.keraudrenii, P.minor, P.lawesii, P.magnificus

Al Wabra (6) - C.magnificus, C.regius, P.apoda, P.minor, P.rubra, S.melanoleuca
The Rainforest Habitat (6) - A.stephaniae, C.magnificus, E.meyeri, P.guilielmi, P.raggiana, P.rudolphi
Walsrode (6) - C.regius, P.apoda, P.minor, P.raggiana, P.rubra, S.melanoleuca

Jurong (5) - C.regius, P.minor, P.raggiana, P.rubra, S.melanoleuca

Dallas World Aquarium (4) - L.superba, P.minor, P.raggiana, P.rubra
Port Moresby Adventure Park (4) - C.magnificus, E.meyeri, P.raggiana, P.helenae
Taman Mini Indonesia (4) - C.magnificus, P.minor, P.rubra, S.melanoleuca

ACTP (3) - C.regius, P.apoda, P.rubra
Bronx (3) - P.minor, P.raggiana, P.rubra
Honolulu (3) - C.magnificus, L.superba, P.raggiana
San Diego (3) - C.magnificus, L.superba, P.raggiana
Sant Alessio (3) - C.magnificus, C.regius, P.minor
Taman Safari I (3) - P.minor, P.rubra, S.melanoleuca

Gembira Loka (2) - P.minor, P.rubra
Kiew (2) - C.regius, C.respublica
Lok Kawi (2) - P.apoda, P.minor
San Antonio (2) - P.minor, P.rubra
San Diego Safari Park (2) - L.superba, P.raggiana
Toledo (2) - L.superba, P.minor
Wanpi World Safari Zoo (2) - C.regius, P.rubra

Bali Zoo (1) - P.minor
Berlin (1) - M.keraudrenii
Central Park (1) - L.superba
Cincinnati (1) - P.raggiana
El Nido (1) - S.melanoleuca
Everland (1) - P.minor
Fort Worth (1) - P.minor
Fukouka (1) - P.raggiana
Green World Ecological Farm (1) - P.minor
Houston (1) - P.rubra
Khao Kheow (1) - P.minor
Lowry Park (1) - P.raggiana
Miami (1) - P.raggiana
Mini Zoo Kemaman (1) - P.apoda
National Aviary (1) - P.raggiana
Prospect Park (1) - P.minor
Riverbanks (1) - P.raggiana
Rotterdam (1) - P.raggiana
Sylvan Heights (1) - P.raggiana
Taipei (1) - P.rubra
Taman Safari II (1) - P.minor
Taman Safari III (1) - P.minor
Tenkile Conservation Alliance (1) - P.minor
Villars les Dombes (1) - C.regius

LIST OF BIRDS OF PARADISE BY AMOUNT OF ZOOS KEEPING THEM:
Lesser bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea minor (23)

Count Raggi’s bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea raggiana (17)

Red bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rubra (14)

Magnificent bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus magnificus (9)
King bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus regius (9)

Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise, Seleucidis melanoleuca (7)

Superb bird-of-paradise, Lophorina superba (6)

Greater bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea apoda (5)

Princess Stephanie's astrapia, Astrapia stephaniae (2)
Wilson’s bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus respublica (2)
Brown sicklebill, Epimachus meyeri (2)
Trumpet manucode, Manucodia keraudrenii (2)
Magnificent riflebird, Ptiloris magnificus (2)

Crinkle-collared manucode, Manucodia chalybatus (1)
Emperor bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea guilielmi (1)
Blue bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rudolphi (1)
Lawes' parotia, Parotia lawesii (1)
Eastern parotia, Parotia helenae (1)

 

I noticed something interesting; between Bali Bird Park and Port Moresby Nature Park, there are only 3 overlapping species (C.magnificus, P.minor, P.magnificus), so between those two collections alone one could see 11 bird-of-paradise species.

After combining and comparing the two lists in my previous posts some more, I found it'd only be necessary to visit 6 zoos worldwide to see all 18 birds-of-paradise currently in captivity:
Port Moresby Nature Park, Port Moresby Adventure Park, The Rainforest Habitat Lae, Bali Bird Park, and then one of the zoos keeping Lophorina superba and one of the zoos keeping Paradisaea apoda! You could technically thus see all captive birds-of-paradise within 2 continents.

 

I believe I read somewhere that the easiest difference between non-displaying males was the color of the nasal tuft feathers? Golden-brown on helenae, and white on lawesii. That seems quite consistent with the pictures I've seen of individuals for both the Nature Park and the Adventure Park.

 

Visited today the Open Day of Wisbroek Breeding Center in the Netherlands and althrough I had expected again a briljant collection, I didn't expect to see not les then 3 different species of Birds of Paradise !!!
- King bird of paradise - one male seen
- Lesser bird of paradise - one male in full color and one male still not in full color
- Red bird of paradise - one male seen
Because only part of the collection was visuable for the public, its well possible that more species / specimens are kept. Will uload pictures of the animals later in the Wisbroek Gallery - the Netherlands .

 

Wisbroek is always a nice place to visit. Had other obligations today so clearly could not make it there. Next year …

BTW: did you manage to talk to any of the collection managers?
What about their wonderful hornbill collection?

 

No I didn't talk with any of the collection managers so no information about the orgin of the Birds of paradise.
For an update of the Hornbill-collection, see Review Wisbroek Breeding Center ( with species list ) post number 16.