I teach international students and the revelation that 'bitch' has an original meaning (female dog) rather than the expletive they've picked, up is always a shock to them
Thé Biodôme is practically in my backyard. It’s closed for repairs at the moment, supposed to reopen in December 2019, but I used to visit to visit it on a monthly-ish basis. The Grebe was still there, healthy and swimming before they close in 2018. It was supposed to stay on a permanent basis. I have no idea where it was relocated during the repairs, but if it survived the moving, my bet would be at the Ecomuseum in Montreal.
They still bring the female albatross out everyday day at 1:30 pm for a talk. I have seen her last week and took some photos. Will post them later in the gallery
I am not sure if skimmer are actually difficult to keep. I know some years back Buttonwoods had one for a while, I think at least a year or two. Also New England Aquarium might have had one for a bit also. The one at the Bronx may have just been unhealthy.
Funny this thread should come out now. Recently I was talking to @ Thylacine Alive about finfoots and seeing if there was any in the U.S.. Some other groups not yet mentioned are francolins, cuckoos, sandgrouse and the order shorebirds in general not just a few rehab sandpipers and plovers. Considering there are over 10.000 species of birds, probably less than 10 percent and definitely less than 20 percent are in zoos, with large groups of species grossly under represented.
I was under the impression that all birds without specific terms for male and female (e.g. apart from gander/goose, cob/pen, etc.) were referred to as cock and hen
In the broadest sense, calling a male bird a cock and a female a hen is accurate for all species. However, if there are species specific pronouns, those are always more appropriate. Along with cob/penn, and gander/goose, you also have drake/duck, Tom or Jake and Jenny, and I believe there are a few more drifting around out there as well.
It gets worse than that. The original term for a female dog in English was "sl*t". Bitch was adopted when that word gained it's negative connotations. Ain't English wonderful.
No. That word was only used to refer to female dogs during a brief period in the 1900s. It had already been used for centuries to mean sloppy in appearance, and then specifically to women who were dirty, but not necessarily in a sexually-related manner. Bitch has always meant female dog, and goes back over a thousand years. It only became a vulgar term centuries later, to go along with with calling someone a dog as an insult.
I read a different story, but never mind you could well be correct. In either case it does show how meanings of words change - often in unfortunate ways.
Francolins are quite common in the private trade, and are often released by hunting groups in attempts to establish populations. Guira Cuckoo isn't too rare in US collection, neither are Greater Roadrunners. Other than that, there are basically no other captive cuckoos in the US (there are are a few weird species here and there, but not many). Based on what I saw on Zootierliste, cuckoos seem a little more common in Europe, but not that much. I have never seen a captive sandgrouse, but I was under the impression that there are few here and there in the private trade. Shorebirds are by far the most common group of the birds you mentioned. Rehab birds are actually quite common, and Inca Terns are quite common. A few collections here and there keep gulls as well. While these are mostly rehab birds, Gray Gull is kept at some collections worldwide.
I've seen sandgrouse listed for sale online before. I've also seen three species in zoos, between Prague and Plzen. Tulsa Zoo is the only one in the US I know of that keeps sandgrouse. ~Thylo
Miami had sandgrouse back in 2013 - no idea if they're still there six years on though! Four-banded Sandgrouse at Miami, 12/10/13 - ZooChat
Skimmers, as far as I know, are difficult to keep in captivity because their life style. Their hunting and roaming habits aren't very conducive to captivity from what I've gathered. They might also be prone to illnesses like some other sea birds.
