CutestThingEver: Birds

June 19, 2007

Tiniest Birdie

Tiny 'akepa hatched in San Diego is being raised by hand

This bird in hand is worth cooing over as the tiniest ever raised in captivity

By Helen Altonn (15 June 2007)

Fresh out of the shell, it tipped the scales at 0.94 grams, about the same as a paper clip. That makes the rare baby 'akepa the smallest songbird ever reared by hand.

With a steady diet of cricket and mealworm guts, bee larvae and pieces of hard-boiled egg, the endangered hatchling is expected to continue to bulk up at the San Diego Zoo.

Its destination: a forest oasis in the middle of a lava desert on the slopes of Mauna Kea, perhaps as early as August.

~ From Star Bulletin.

Jun 19, 2007 5:45:00 AM | Birds

May 15, 2007

Chirp

Photo by Tanja Askani.

May 15, 2007 5:03:00 AM | Birds

May 05, 2007

Tu Whit Tu Whoo

Orphaned owls find new cuddly-toy mum

(May 4, 2007)

A group of orphaned baby owls snuggle up to a cuddly toy which has become their surrogate mum after they were found on the brink of death in the wild.

The tiny tawny owl chicks burrow in under the fluffy toy's wings to keep warm after they were separated from their own mothers.

The chicks, all aged between just four and eight weeks, faced certain death as they fended for themselves alone in the wild but are now recovering in an animal hospital.

The four chicks will spend the next few weeks in a shady area of the park's hospital quarters, which mimics the environment of an owl's nest.

Then, once their wings and adult feathers are grown, they will be moved to an aviary to spend another month or two learning to fly and building up their muscles.

The group have all bonded and snuggle up close to each other and to the cuddly toy owl dubbed 'mummy owl', which has to be washed regularly because she gets so much love.

Tawny Owls, famed for their 'tu-whit tu-whoo' hoots in the night are one of the most common breeds of owl in the UK.

~ Photo and text from Daily Mail (see full article).

May 5, 2007 5:53:00 AM | Birds