Abstract
Several places in the United States hold especially rich concentrations of public exhibits of living animals. The tourism-heavy states of California and Florida come to mind at once. The densely populated Great Lakes Region, and the Eastern Seaboard from Baltimore to Boston are two more. Then there is Texas, which has long been famous for collections with an encyclopedic emphasis on biodiversity.
The ISIS Aves Abstract for 31 December, 1999 lists 614 taxa of birds distributed among the 15 Texas institutions that submit data to the International Species Information System. I have found this figure is not complete, even among these participating collections, and if one added the holdings of those Texas collections not yet listed by ISIS, the number would be substantially larger.
Along with some of the world's largest "mainstream" public zoos, long operated by municipalities or nonprofit organizations, Texas has an unusual number of privately owned facilities with remarkable bird collections which are open to visitors.
On the occasion of the impending AFA National Convention at Houston, I thought it appropriate to review significant Texas bird exhibits, beginning with those near the borders of the state.
El Paso Zoo
Located in the far western corner of Texas, El Paso has been the traditional point of entry for those traveling overland from California, and, more recently, its airport has became a stopover for economy flights going in and out of the state. For years, the El Paso Zoo occupied only five acres, in a downtown location that was easily overlooked. As I found to my dismay, if one missed the zoo, one was quite likely to end up in the line of cars crossing the border to the large much larger city of Juarez, and could not usually get out of line until already in Mexico. This could of course he disastrous to internationals traveling on a tourist visa. In the 1990s, the zoo was able to expand into adjoining land, increasing its area to 18 acres.
In the 1980s the zoo attracted international attention when it opened its South American Building, where a variety of birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and freshwater and marine fishes are exhibited in a series of mostly glass-fronted natural displays. Bird exhibits in this building include one shared hy Silver-hilled and Blue-Grey Tanagers, Red-crested Cardinals, Red-rumped Caciques, Green Aracaris, Golden Lion Tamarins, and large freshwater fishes, as well as separate enclosures with Blue-crowned Motmots, Red Siskins, Troupials, Peruvian Thick-knees, Grey-winged Trumpeters and other species.
The expansion of the 1990's allowed construction of a beautiful indoor Asian complex, where, along with such creatures as pythons and Malay Tapirs, Spotted Whistling Ducks, Great Hornbills, White-throated Kingfishers, Black-naped Fruit Doves, Golden-fronted Leafhirds, Bali Mynahs, and one of the last Red-wattled Lapwings in the U.S. may he seen.
The other zoogeographical area emphasized at El Paso is North America, and the collection of native hirds is remarkahle. Exhihited in outdoor facilities are American Avocets, Sanderlings, Swainson's I lawks, Redheaded Woodpeckers, Dunlins, Killdeers, Horned Larks, Northern Oriole, Yellow-headed Blackhirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Evening Grosbeaks.
Abilene Zoological Gardens
Approximately two-thirds of the long stretch of Interstate 20 from El Paso to the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex, one passes through Ahilene. Here is another zoo specializing in the fauna of several regions - in this case Texas, Central America, Tropical Africa, and Madagascar. At present, as far as exhihits are concerned, Texas hirds are largely represented hy a small flock of Sandhill Cranes, and an attractive collection of North American waterfowl that share an entrance exhihit with African waterfowl and a flock of Lesser Flamingoes. However, hehind scenes, a Western Tanager, Yellow-headed Blackhirds, and other native passerines await a future exhihit. On the other hand, a colony of the critically endangered Attwater's Prairie Chicken (the last subtropical grouse) is intended entirely for off-exhihit propagation, a vital hoost to the tiny wild population. In 2000, 13 were reared, from parents selected from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, and the San Antonio and Houston Zoos.
Another off-exhihit propagation project has heen set up for a pair of African Crowned Eagles, on loan from the San Diego Zoo. Abilene has a long history of breeding African birds, being among the first institutions to propagate Secretary Birds, in the 1980s, and Abyssinian Ground Hornhills in the 70s. Both species are still to he seen there, the Ground Hornbills with Reticulated Giraffes, the Secretary Birds in an outdoor aviary where they have proved surprisingly cold tolerant.
Other African hirds exhibited out of doors include a fine male Somali Ostrich, a very old Blacksmith Plover, Blue-bellied Rollers, Golden-breasted Starlings, a prolific pair of Trumpeter Hornbills, and Erckel's Francolins. Indoors, in the zoo's innovative discovery center, is a walk-through aviary housing some out-of-the-ordinary species. I was delighted to find that the Grey-hacked Sparrow Lark, Eremopteryx oerticalis, present at my first visit in 1991, is still very much alive and well 10 years later. It remains the only specimen of this Southern African endemic I have seen, and is probably the only live specimen in North America (it has never been listed in ISIS). The same is likely true for the two Crimsonwings of a so far undetermined species ( Cryptospiza sp.). These African finches are furtive, and I was not able to find them in the undergrowth. However two male Orange-winged Pytilias Pytilta afra were quite visible. Again, this is the only U.S. public exhibit of these relatives of the Melba Finch. Aside from the one in this aviary, the only other American zoo specimens of the Arrow-marked Babbler Turdoides jardineii are at the San Diego Zoo, while Golden-breasted Buntings Emberiza flatnientris can otherwise be seen only at Dallas, where, I believe Abilene's birds were hatched.
Until the passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1993, Paradise Whydahs were not considered a rarity, hut their captive propagation certainly has been, It is possible Abilene achieved a U.S. first breeding some years ago. However, the...