Abstract
I
I I n May 1999, the splendid, but out-dated, Bird House at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden was demolished. This event was long-
awaited since the building had suffered for many years from leaking roofs and other serious effects of old age that were beyond repair. Two months earlier, a new off-exhibit facility named "The Bird Conservation Center" was opened. Here the bulk of the bird collection would be housed until the new bird house could be built and opened in the latter half of 2000. This article is an account of the (softbill) breedings that have already occurred in the Bird Conservation Center (BCC) including possible contributing factors such as aviary design.
The BCC comprises 28 indoor aviaries and seven outdoor aviaries which are all off-exhibit. There is also a Kitchen, an Avian Nursery and a
I Research room that are on public display via large viewing windows.
The Indoor Aviaries
The 28 indoor aviaries are built of 1- inch square aluminum tubing and 2 x 'h inch 16g wire mesh. All of the aviaries are three feet wide and eight feet high; 15 aviaries are 15 feet long; 13 aviaries are 10 feet long. The aviary dividers are removable so that wider aviaries can be made if necessary (in multiples of three feet).
The top four feet of the sides and backs are solid, white fiberglass. This is easy to clean and gives complete privacy to each aviary's occupants. The
aviaries are serviced from the front - a feed door allows food and water dishes to be placed on raised wire mesh platforms, while a 2 x 5 foot door allows easy access for people if required. All of the aviaries stand on concrete curbs above a smooth con-
crete floor which slopes from the hack of the aviaries to the front. A walkway allows us to walk behind the aviaries and hose debris into a large gutter drain at the front. Because the top half of the aviaries are solid, the birds cannot see us when we are cleaning and are actually not unduly disturbed. The aviaries were built by Comers Limited, and are excellent.
Lighting is both natural and artificial.
Windows in the walls of the building provide natural side-lighting, and a series of windows in the roof provide lighting from above. Florescent lights provide a lumen range of about 60 to 100 foot-candles inside each aviary. We believe that this is sufficient for plant-life and bird-life. It may be worth noting that we decided to avoid the expensive, full-spectrum lights that simulate sunlight. It appears to be the case that such lights are not necessary for birds or plants. Of primary importance seems to be merely the existence of bright, white light. The exact wavelengths are probably not important, provided that the birds' diet is nutritious, specifically being balanced for vitamin 03 (an essential vitamin that in nature is derived from direct sunlight). We use Nekton MSA in our diets, a multi-mineral supplement that contains 03, as well as being balanced for calcium and phosphorus.
No floor covering is used except in aviaries that house ground birds. In those cases, we use Enkamat™, a plastic matting originally designed for erosion control. The building is climate controlled at about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Breeding Season, 1999
For the breeding season of 1999, we resigned ourselves to little or no breeding for the following reasons:
1. the birds had to be moved in April which we expected could disrupt breeding.
2. the majority of the birds were temporarily over-crowded.
3. many of the larger birds had to be housed singly because the aviaries were designed for pairs of smaller birds.
At the time of writing (May '99), two Toco Toucans, three Keel-billed Toucans and one Pink-necked Fruit Dove have hatched in the BCC and are being parent-reared. The birds have been in the new building for just two months. The toucans are in the outdoor aviaries which were carefully designed for them, while the fruit dove hatched in an indoor aviary, three feet wide and ten feet long. Also housed with the fruit doves are a pair of Fairy Bluebirds. The Fairy Bluebirds are only temporary companions until there is sufficient space to give each pair their own aviary.
The fruit doves nested on a hanging basket of pathos vine at the rear of the aviary. Hanging baskets can provide both cover and nest sites for fruit doves, tanagers, leafbirds, thrushes, Pekin Robins, and generally can be offered to all builders of small cup I platform nests. Watering them, however, is practically impossible without destroying the nests and eggs that might be located on them. A simple irrigation system is therefore useful,
allowing remote irrigation that does not disrupt nesting: a 3/4 inch tube can run along the aviary roof. Lengths of 1/4 inch tubing can be connected to the main line, using "T" pieces, and discharged into the tray or earth of each basket. Liquid feeds can also be administered this way, avoiding the need to service the plant directly and risk disturbing the birds.