Thursday, August 22, 2019

Colorful birds

I first called this post "Beautiful birds," but all birds are beautiful. (I'm not fond of European starlings, however.)

This parrot has a red head and breast, white eye and cheek, a white upper mandible and a black lower.
red-and-green macaw (Detroit Zoo)

The male peafowl has a blue head and neck, multiple colors on its body, and long, green tail features.
Indian peacock (Detroit Zoo)

These parrots have blue heads and wings, yellow breasts, a black beak, and a white eye.
These brothers are blue-throated macaws (Toledo Zoo). There's a third that's off-exhibit, and they're named Larry, Curly, and Moe.

These small parrots have read beaks, blue heads, yellow napes, red breasts, and green wings.
coconut lorikeets (Columbus Zoo)

This bird has a white crown and beak, black mask, and feathers with contrasting edges: Gold with black, white with red-brown, and white with black.
Lannister, a Reeves's pheasant (Columbus Zoo)

This bird has wings of iridescent green, blue, and orange.
Nicobar pigeon (Columbus Zoo)

This blue bird has a striking red eye and fancy blue-and-white plumes on its head.
Victoria crowned pigeon (Cincinnati Zoo)

This bird has a black head, blue neck and breast, orange belly, and green wings.
Superb starlings seem to have jewels on their wings (Columbus Zoo).

This fince has a read head, black bib, green white breast, yellow belley, green back and wings, and a blue tail.
There are a number of color variations of Gouldian finches (Toledo Zoo).

Friday, August 9, 2019

Two zoos in four days

I visited Toledo Saturday and Columbus Tuesday.

A giraffe's hindquarters and tail in the classic brown-and-white pattern
A reticulated giraffe at the feeding station. The Columbus Zoo also has Masai giraffes.
 
The head, including ossicones ("horns") of a giraffe in profile
The reticulated giraffe awaits a treat from a zoo visitor. (Columbus Zoo)


A young polar bear swims with a toy.
Borealis was born last December. (Toledo Zoo)

Crystal contemplates playing with a ball. She's Borealis's mom. (Toledo Zoo)

Two frogs engage in apparent adult activity. The frogs are brilliant blue with yellow and white on their backs.
Cobalt poison dart frogs. They literally played leapfrog in the Toledo Zoo's new tropical greenhouse.

A tropical butterfly (Toledo Zoo)
Cheetah. The Columbus Zoo has about a dozen.

A wood thrush landed a couple of feet away from me in the Columbus Zoo's songbird aviary.
A chestnut-breasted malkoha in the Toledo Zoo's pheasantry

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Bonobos

I've visited the Columbus Zoo's bonobos a few times.

A bonobo sits on a red ball at a food-laden shelf.
This youngster likes its ball.

A young bonobo likes on its back with a red ball in its hands.



The bonobo holds its ball with its legs. The feet look like hands, don't they? 

Front view of a bonobo sitting while munching on kale.


A female bonobo scratches her head.


A young bonobo romps while mom studies her hand.


A bonobo grasps a rail that's part of the climbing structure.


Close-up of the hand that's grasping the rail. The fingers are much longer than a human's.