In Europe there are basically no members of the famous group of birds to be seen in zoos, so the only way is to travel to Australia. Has anyone here ever seen them, either in captivity or in the wild? What are they like as zoo animals - some at least seem from wildlife programmes to do well in close proximity to human habitations and do not give the impression of being secretive.
This is the only one I've seen, and not in Australia but in California: Chlamydera cerviniventris by Kakapo posted 8 Oct 2016 at 2:10 PM
If by bowerbirds, you also mean catbirds then I only remember seeing White-eared catbird at both Zoo Berlin and Tierpark Berlin this summer. I think I may have seen Fawn-breasted bowerbird and Black-eared catbird but I cannot remember either of them...
I'd imagine pretty much every Australian Zoochatter has seen them in captivity - certain species, particularly the Satin and Regent Bowerbirds, are common in Australian zoos. They aren't difficult to see in the wild either, but obviously that's a bit different to just going to the zoo and looking in an aviary.
There should still be Fawn-breasted bowerbirds in Wuppertal I think, which have been in Cologne before (and bred there as well).
I've seen Satin Bowerbirds in the wild on many occasions, Western Bowerbirds on both my trips to Alice Springs, and on my trip to FNQ I saw Spotted and Tooth-billed Catbird. In captivity I've seen Green Catbird, Satin, Regents, Western and Fawn-breasted Bowerbird. Hix
Sofar seen 5 species of this intresting group and even taken care for 2 of them ( ) ! Satin bowerbird ( taken for a very old male at Walsrode at the end of the 1980-ties ) Fawn-breasted bowerbird ( taken for a bower-building male at Pairi Daiza -1990-ties Regent bowerbird - single male seen at Rotterdam Zoo -1980-ties ( see Yellow-naped bowerbird | ZooChat ) Black-eared catbird - in the dutch animal-trade - 1980-ties White-eared catbird - at several zoos and in the dutch animal-trade ( see White-eared catbird | ZooChat )
Noteworthy is maybe an exibition which at the moment can be seen at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg. It's soley devoted to Bowerbirds ( including catbirds ) and from no less then 14 species ( at least thats the number I've seen, I had road that there should be 16 ) stuffed males are on exibit. From each species also natural-sized bowers are placed next to the birds ( exept by the catbirds which doesn't build bowers ) and some of these constructions are realy unbelieveble ! I already have uploaded some pictures at the Germany - others photo Gallery and more will follow.
An old note about the world-first breeding of the Flame bowerbird at Al Wabra Preservation : The golden bird with its silvery young (May 2003) World first breeding sensation at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, owned by Sheikh Saoud Bin Mohammad Bin Ali Al-Thani and located close to Shahaniyh in central Qatar, of the rare Flame Bowerbird (Sericulus aureus ardens) sometimes also called Golden Bird owed to its unique coloration. Very little is known about the beautiful, but elusive Flame Bowerbird, it is found only in the wildest parts of New Guineas mountain rainforests, and has only rarely been seen by scientists, and only photographed in the wild once or twice. So far their nest have never been found in the wild nor have the eggs or young’s ever been described by science. At the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation the first ever, data’s on this species biology, behavior and now also reproduction, have been collected, from the six birds that currently lives at the Preservations breeding centre. One of the things that have been most astonishing for the experts at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation is that the young of these amazingly gold colored birds are covered by silvery gray downs. In this first case the single egg was removed from the mother and artificially incubated in a machine. The care and rearing of the 12,3 gram newborn has been taken over by the, very successful, Al Wabra bird handrearing team. The chick is still blind and depends entirely on the care of its human surrogate parents. It is fed every one and a half hour with fresh Papaya, Mango, Insects and meat from newborn rats. The baby will stay under intensive care and monitoring until it is old enough to start eating by itself probably around six weeks of age.
Depending where you are in Australia there are often bowerbirds to be seen. Their display bowers are not too hard to find. In the eastern areas the satin bowerbird is fairly common. They are a bit of a pest in my garden, eating any fruits I grow, but nice to see. Regent bowerbirds are not seen as often but they are not too hard to find. In the central city of Alice Springs spotted bowerbirds can easily be seen in the botanical gardens. In northern areas the great bowerbird is fairly common, and easily seen.
Zoo Berlin kept Chlamydera cerviniventris untill a couple of years ago. Beside the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, I've seen White-eared Catbirds in the zoos of Berlin. On my recent trip to Australia, I saw Satin Bowerbirds. On a previous trip, I spotted Great Bowerbirds in the Top End. I might have seen some more in captivity, in Deser Park and Territory Wildlife Park, but I'm not sure about that.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park has at least 1 Fawn-breasted Bowerbird that I saw in early January. They are signed in Owens Aviary at the Zoo but never saw them. I suspect they're probably there though, it's a big aviary.
To the extent of my knowledge the only birds they have really cleared out have been the spixii's and to a lesser degree their lears macaws. They have sent numerous BOP's and a couple of pheasants to Europe, however that probably has more to do with their breeding success and needing to move surplus stock than political unrest.
