It seems luck is always on your side from the sounds of things.....! I would be curious to know where you saw the chachalacas roughly in Bush, as I've heard they stick to roughly one area.
They can sometimes be seen inside the aardvark enclosure and seem to stick to that area, including the small path that comes close to the roof of the hall. My personal record for the Bush is seeing 35 of the (then) 36 bird species in one visit, we only missed the Montserrat orioles back then, but that took about 2-3 hours of searching...
I usually see the chachalaca's somewhere between the otters and the restaurant, although the last time I saw them close to the ''adventure trail'' in the higher part of the zoo. The orioles I have never seen though, but I've seen the rest (even the single Sunda hooded pitta)
When I was in Burgers' Zoo last (with @korhoen and @vogelcommando) we saw 25/37 species (initially we thought it was out of 40 but soon discovered that the honeycreepers, Timor sparrows and scissor-billed starlings weren't present anymore); missing the ringed teals, piping-guan, chachalacas, hooded pitta, leafbird, shama, white-eye, catbirds, twinspots, buntings, tanagers and the (it seems) infamously difficult to find Montserrat orioles. Especially infuriating as we managed to find every bird species in Desert and Mangrove, but then again I suppose it's easier to find them there as the spaces are more open.
Not sure if the twinspots are still there either, since at least some of them moved to the birdhouse.
Oh, after ralph´s mentioning of mouse lemurs, there comes another hidden species on my mind: The bushbabies, which were signed and confirmed for the hippo and chimp house in ZOOM Gelsenkirchen. I am not sure, whether they still keep this species, but I didn´t know anyone who has seen them at all.
Chester's Andean Bears are pretty notorious for being no-shows however recently they seem to be more active as far as I can tell. Also I don't think I've ever seen the Hyacinth Macaws. Also I must not forget the Sand Lizards but given the long grass it isn't surprising. Oh and the parrots in the Rare Parrot Breeding Centre (No idea what species it is), I don't bother even looking anymore and I don't think I have ever saw it.
I think the arrival of the cub has changed the activity patterns somewhat. Prior to that I have made several visits and failed to see them everytime apart from some years back when there were two males initially. Re the Sand Lizards, there are often one or two sunning themselves on the wooden framework of the glass windows. They like to bask on a warm surface like that in the wild also. Several times I've seen people peering into the grass to no avail when there was a Lizard right in front of (but below) them....
Planckendael: bush dogs, those little b*** never ever but once appeared to me in 25 visits. Humboldt's night monkey in Antwerp is also a difficult one.
At Rotterdam Zoo I have been sofar been unable to find the Emerald starling and the Common bulbuls in the Crocodile-hall, not sure if they are kept there anymore....
Bushdogs in Planckendael I've seen a few times, night monkeys in Antwerp I do usually see as well. Emerald starling is not kept in Rotterdam anymore. Not sure about the bulbul, but it's been a long while since I last saw it.
Have never had any trouble seeing kiwi in New Zealand but they're generally older animals who have been in nocturnal houses for decades. Havent had any issues with cloudies either. Always seem to be easy enough to see. Male king bird of paradise at Walsrode was impossible to see.Felt sorry for an older gentleman who camped in front of thd enclosure all day only to see nothing. The king of the no show absolutely has to be the New Zealand short tailed bat that were in Auckland Zoos nocturnal house. Would go to Auckland Zoo 6-7 days a year and never even saw a glimpse. According to keepers they'd only see a glimpse from the public viewing side once a week. Another good candidate is the Archeys frogs that were at Auckland Zoo as well.
Funny enough, I saw the male King at Walsrode within seconds of reaching the enclosure - and several more times over the course of the following two days.
Me too, on the same days as TLD. The best view of a BoP for me except one male twelve-wired (in Walsrode too).
Interesting. I was there for three days opening to closing and there was no sign of him. I was there in late June. May have just been an unlucky streak lol.
Toledo- my past 2 visits when they obtained the Tasmanian devils, they never were out when I tried to look for them, giving me a short moment of frustration. Detroit- their beavers are like never out everytime I went
