Weltvogelpark Walsrode news from Walsrode 2023

It's not that long now until the park opens up again for the season, so let's start this thread and prepare for that!

According to a post on Zoofreunde it seems like we right now have at least this to look forward to:
"For example, the female griffon vulture Kenya will be equipped with a camera to show visitors aerial photos of the park. In addition, the new aviary at the entrance is to be opened." (Translated from german)

Also, according to Zootierliste the park recently received a pair of white-throated piping-guans (Pipile grayi) from Prague zoo.

 

Just left the park, and I don't have much to report, but here is a bit:

*The large walk-through aviary by the entrance thatthey started last year is not even close to finished.
*The park seems very messy with species in odd mixes and places.
*Some aviaries were empty, for example the aviaries with European birds close to the storks were all completely empty.
*All Walsrodes hummingbird species are on show.

New:
Northern festive Amazon (Amazona bodini)
Grey-headed bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti) (Grey-headed bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti) - ZooChat)
Venezuelan parakeet (Pyrrhura emma)

On show again:
Blue-winged macaw (Primolius maracana)
Blue-eared lory (Eos semilarvata)
Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

Spread sheet as usual with some more information: WVP Walsrode - New species 2023

That's it for now, I'm going to the park tomorrow again though!

 

A few new noticed yesterday as well. I will add them later to my spread sheet list, some I have to ID as well before.

* Yellow-billed stork (Behind the scenes, but can be seen)
* Azure-winged magpie (Iberian???)
* Greater upland goose (back on show again)
* Eastern vasa parrot (back on show again)
* Eurasian long-eared owl (Not on show, seen when they practiced by the flight show)
* Eventually 0,0,3 gulls, but they can't really be ID yet, I think.

Probably forgot about something though..

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) and Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki)?

Other updates:
* The aviaries in the European area are now filled, mostly with the same species as last year.
* The Long-wattled umbrellabird is not in his old aviary anymore, they moved him to another aviary in the Jungle Trail now.
* The kiskadee is not in its old aviary either and is now together with the umbrellabird.
* The Stanley/Western rosellas are now free flying in the Jungle Trail.
* A few species that were on show last year could not be seen/found on Friday or Saturday.
* The white-throated piping-guans (Pipile grayi) from Prague Zoo are not on show.
* The black-faced spoonbill is not on show, even though it's group of European spoonbills are on show. Not signed anymore either.
* The Marail guans were not on show on Friday or Saturday. But they are signed.
* The White-breasted kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is not really on show anymore, but can be seen in the dark behind one of the aviaries in the Jungle trial (to the left of the water fall).

 

Ah okay! Then I would assume it's Iberian?

 

Visited the park again today! Not much new to report, but here are some info and some things I noticed:

* The burrowing owls are now off-show, their aviary in the paradieshalle now instead houses African pygmy falcons again.
* 4,4 wild form budgerigars arrived last year from Prague Zoo, they are now on show in the park.
* Two violet turacos are now on show in one of the aviaries in the Jungle Trail.
* I noticed a wood duck male in the "crane lake" (kranichsee) which had a color mutation. WVP Walsrode doesn't seem to have ever kept wood ducks in this color, so I'm not sure if it belongs to the park or how it got there. It hangs out with a group of wild mallards and one "wild" male mandarin duck.
* The Jungle trail now houses 3 free-ranging species of parrots (what I could see at least) - Western rosellas, scarlet-chested parrots, and yellow-crowned parakeets.
* The Sulawesi black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis celebensis) has been signed in the Jungle trail for several years, even though no one seems to have seen it for some years. Today I saw that the sign was gone, which might mean that the subspecies is now no longer kept in European zoos.
* Many of the ducks and ornamental geese are currently kept behind the scenes (I saw a bunch there), and the cormorants are no longer in their pond, but instead in one of the aviaries by the Uhu-Burg. Some can be seen (for example the ducks in the sea bird aviary by the predator birds).
* The horned screamers (Anhima cornuta) are completely off-show now and can not be seen.

 

Visited today again! Two new species seen this time - One very common, and one very rare!

* Common emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
* Light-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) - Not kept at any other European zoo.

Light-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) by Daniel Sörensen posted 14 Apr 2023 at 4:47 PM

 

I was not in Walsrode for a long time, but there is not much large open area aviable. Where are the Emus kept ?

 

Four baby emus are right now kept in the "Baby and Breeding station" by the rosencafé. They don't have a dedicated enclosure right now, but I can think of some areas where they could potentially be kept when they are grown up.

 

Hello! No update here for almost a month, but here is a small one! This one includes some "old" information as well that I reported via photos in the gallery (but not here in the thread).

New:
* Great pond snails (Lymnaea stagnalis) (NEW)
* Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) - Not new, but got put on-show again.
* Maguari stork (Ciconia maguari) - Not new, but got put on-show again.
* Bush stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius) - Not new, but got put on-show again.
* Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) (NEW) - Most likely the nominate subspecies.

Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) by Daniel Sörensen posted 12 May 2023 at 4:40 PM

 

Great updates. Very helpful for my visit to Walsrode last weekend! Keep up the good work

Some observations:
- The large aviary in the Kolibri house does now only holds a pair of white-bearded manakins. Maybe the combination with the Amazilia was not that great. They also took down a lot of the (artificial) plants in this aviary.
- There're now three pairs of black-chinned fruit doves on show (one pair in the Paradieshalle and two pairs in Pukara).
- They now have a pair of pink-headed fruit doves on show, last year there was only a female.
- The Sulawesi myna (near the Kiwi house) is much less shy than last year, so I finally managed to take some good pics.
- The King bird-of-paradise is now also housed in the front aviary in the bird-of-paradise section and the male showed itself a few times, so I took some good observations and pics.


Does anyone know if the Montezuma oropendola is still alive? Everytime I am at Walsrode I visit the Rosencafé but I never see it, although it's still signed.

 

Hope you had a nice visit!
About what times did you see the male King bird-of-paradise?
He's been in that front aviary for some year/s, but I have only succeeded to see a young brown individual once (and I can't even count how many times I've been to the park, or how much time I've spent just waiting for the male to show up ).

Also, about the Montezuma oropendola - I saw him last year and he seemed healthy, but I have only visited Rosencafé once so far this year, and during that visit, I did not see him.
Unless they recently got new signs in the Rosencafé, the signs should just be ignored as they have had the same signs for several years and still list species that are not kept there anymore.
For example, Jones' Silver pheasant (Lophura nycthemera jonesi) is listed in the Rosencafé aviaries but has not been seen in the park since 2016.
The signs are basic laminated A4 papers, so I really don't understand why they have had the same incorrect signs for so long (I have jokingly thought about printing my own correct signs and just switching them out ).

 

Last year they said they would get a Harpy eagle again, and now it finally seems to happen!

Soon.. Harpy eagle.. by Daniel Sörensen posted 19 May 2023 at 5:19 PM

Also, during today's visit I noticed that the sign for the rufous-collared pratincoles/rock pratincoles (Glareola nuchalis liberiae) is removed, and I could not see any of them in the aviary (Usually they are easy to spot). They are probably just kept behind the scenes, but I thought I would update here with that info as they are very rare and unique for WVP Walsrode.

 

Just a short update.
According to ZIMS, the Harpy eagle arrived from Dallas Zoo at the beginning of May, so we could eventually expect it to be on show at the beginning of June when the quarantine is done.
Along with the harpy they also received 1,1 king vultures (Sarcoramphus papa).

 

I had an amazing two day long visit to Walsrode. It's a paradise for bird people, can't believe I had never been before. Thanks go to @Daniel Sörensen for his excellent advice on where and how to see various species as well.

I saw basically everything I wanted to see that was on show, though spent some time in the cafe with a few beers waiting for the Montezuma oropendola, but no sign. Perhaps it has indeed passed on.

 

It's confirmed. According to ZIMS, the Montezuma oropendola passed away at the end of April.
This ends the keeping of Montezuma oropendolas not only at Weltvogelpark Walsrode but also in Europe (at least in zoos), as they were the only European zoo keeping this species.

 

I observed the KIng birds-of-paradise almost every visit (both male and female/juvenile), in the back aviary though. Mostly peeking through the fly hole.This time I saw the male in the front aviary for the first time, I think around 18:00 on my visit. I already saw on Facebook you managed to take some good pictures .

Just read your message the Montezuma oropendola has passed away unfortunately. Maybe I will see this species in another zoo some day (e.g. Dallas World Aquarium keeps this species).

WVP normally seems quite good with updating signs, but they seem to forget the Rosencafé for some reason ;-) .

Just like you mention I also noticed the rufous collared pratincoles are not on show anymore. Unique species, hope they are alive and well behind the scenes.

I also noticed in Pukara that the female Pompadour cotinga was absent. The male was still present, but I couldn't spot the female anymore.

Great news that the Harpy eagle will arrive soon in the park. I wonder what the plan is with this individual.
A few weeks ago I visited Tierpark Berlin, where they keep a single individual (male) for a few years now. It was in it's inside enclosure, sitting next to a big (artificial?) nest, so I the photos I took are not the best.

 

Just came home from another visit and noticed a female Malaysian great argus (Argusianus argus argus) in the fasanerie, together with a normal chicken

The aviary that most likely will be for the harpy is now empty (used to be a white-tailed sea eagle there), and a fence has been put in front (so you can't get too close). So I would assume that the harpy will very soon be on show! The quarantine should have ended now as well.

 

The harpy is now on show, according to the parks social media.