It is great to go to a zoo and see the exotic animals of all shapes and sizes. However, one of my favorite parts of zoo visiting is the wildlife. Most zoos seem to be wildlife havens. I've accrued quite a list of wild animals over the years that I've seen in a few of my local zoos. What kind of wild animals have you seen at zoos?
At my zoo I've seen quite a bit. Raccoons, opossums, coyotes, bobcats, rat snakes, garter snakes, green rough snakes, green anoles, fence lizards, and too many birds to name.
Very cool, I think I've seen all but the fence lizard and bobcat. Interesting visitor reactions about a coyote? Am I right that you mean the Ft. Worth Zoo? Any interesting birds? Too far inland for the gulf coast herons, but I bet you could get some cool stuff like Le Conte's Sparrow, Black Vultures, and probably some stuff I'm not thinking of.
At Zoo Boise I've seen fox squirrel, mink, muskrat, mule deer (just outside the gate), Canada geese, mallards, American wigeons, wood ducks, brown creeper, song sparrow, dark-eyed junco, western tanager, MacGillivray's warbler, and ring-billed gull. At the Phoenix Zoo I've seen gray fox, cotton rat, round-tailed ground squirrel, Canada goose, mallard, American wigeon, ring-billed duck, northern shoveler, pied-billed grebe, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, black-crowned night heron, great horned owl, Harris's hawk, red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, mourning dove, Inca dove, white-winged dove, Gambel's quail, great-tailed grackle, house sparrow, European starling.
Mink, American wigeon, and MacGillivray's warbler are all superb species to find in a zoo...Is Zoo Boise in very good habitat? MacGillivray is one of a handful of American warblers I still haven't seen. Arizona is almost like another country with animals and birds. I'd really enjoy seeing any mammal you've listed there. Nice list of doves, and the Gambel's quail would be a huge bonus!
Zoo Boise is practically next to the Boise River along a great stretch of green belt. It's an excellent habitat corridor. I forgot to add northern raccoon to my Zoo Boise list.
My zoo visits mainly happen at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, but this also includes, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Des Moines, Topeka, and Chicago. I think my zoo bird species total is up to 138. Highlights include trumpeter swan, 5 goose species, 19 ducks, 3 grebes, 4 gulls, 8 herons, snipes, sandhill cranes and 2 rails, 6 hawks, bald eagle, osprey, 2 owls, 7 woodpeckers, 11 warblers, 11 sparrows, 2 meadowlarks, 2 grackles, and three blackbird species. There are plenty of other cool species. Mammal-wise, the only thing noteworthy I've seen is a river otter.
I always love when zoos are in natural areas. Not a fan of urban zoos. How are hawks in the area? Any Swainson's, ferruginous, or Harris's ever seen? Or golden eagles?
Harris's hawks don't come that far north, and the other raptors mentioned are more in the open country. The zoo is in a wooded area by the Boise River, and though I've never seen them in the zoo itself I've seen bald eagles and ospreys nearby. Also seen near but not in the zoo is American beaver. Phoenix Zoo omissions: desert cottontail, black-tailed jackrabbit, California king snake, Sonoran gopher snake, checkered garter snake, desert spiny lizard, chuckwalla, and checkered whiptail.
Not sure what I was thinking with Harris's Hawk Boise Zoo sounds like an excellent wildlife location, though I've never actually heard of that zoo.
At the bronx zoo i have seen more than 50 kinds of birds plus many hawks. I have also seen a wild skunk, fish/turtles in the bronx river and there are also beavers which i have yet to see.
Anything particularly interesting within those 50 bird species? I suppose you could ge some cool gulls in the Bronx.
Being in Bridgeport, Beardsley isn't going to have the wealth of species seen on zoo grounds as Texas, Arizona, Idaho, etc. I have seen Gray Squirrels, various songbirds, Wild Turkeys, Eastern Cottontails, and Black Vultures. I love seeing the vultures because they like to make visits in exhibits. In 2007, in the summer Warthog exhibit, they flew in and pestered the Warthogs, and it was fun to see the Warthogs maintain their authority and charge the birds. More recently, I saw the vultures drop by the Bald Eagle enclosure. The vultures creeped torwards one of the eagles until the eagle felt his space was being intruded. The eagle let out a cry and chased after the vultures. http://www.zoochat.com/1133/bald-eagle-black-vultures-257909/
Have you seen the black squirrels? When I went in October, there seemed to be black squirrels everywhere.
