Columbus August 21

I went to the Columbus Zoo August 21 with a pal and got these shots.

Randhir, a male sloth bear

The picture is not noteworthy, but the activity was interesting. Frankie, the youngster on the left, and one of his aunties had a brief shoving match. They stood this way for several seconds, the auntie gave a small push, and Frankie retreated.

Javan pond heron

northern bald ibis

African grey parrot

One of the western lowland gorilla moms with a kid on her back.

Humboldt penguin

Toledo Birds

I got some good shots of my bird friends in Toledo November 4.

African grey parrot

 

golden-breasted starling

bald eagle - immature

demoiselle crane

diamond firetail

Fischer's lovebird

black crake

violet-backed starling - male

It's not the toy.

It's the box it came in.

African lion (Columbus Zoo)

black ratsnake (Columbus Zoo)

African grey parrot (Columbus Zoo)

meerkat (Toledo Zoo)

puma (Toledo Zoo)

dromedary camels (Columbus Zoo)

The meerkat and puma were after food. Parrots seem to enjoy tearing things up.

Leave me alone!

 

Well, this explains my difficulty in deciding whether these birds are rainbow or coconut lorikeets. (Columbus Zoo)

Soras swim but don't have webbed feet. (Columbus Zoo)

Maybe the sora's long toes help it swim. The bird is about the size of a robin.

hadada ibises (Columbus Zoo)

dromedary camels (Columbus Zoo)

More of Poor Clyde, an African gray parrot

Amur tigers (Columbus Zoo)

pygmy goats (Columbus Zoo)

Parrots

Pesquet's parrot (Toledo Zoo)

sulphur-crested cockatoo (Columbus Zoo)

African grey parrot (Toledo Zoo)

blue-crowned hanging parrot (Toledo Zoo)

budgerigar, or parakeet (Toledo Zoo)

Bourke's parakeet (Toledo Zoo)

cockatiel (Toledo Zoo)

Poor Clyde

Last week, I saw the Columbus Zoo's African grey parrots outside for the first time this year. The viewing deck is about five feet above the ground, and I looked down after I heard a rustle followed by a thump-splat. A parrot had made a hard landing and began to climb the mesh.

Clyde climbs.

 Later I learned the parrot's name is Clyde.

Clyde approaches my eye level.

Clyde's tail was in bad shape, and I assumed this year's feathers hadn't come in yet.

Clyde's tail feathers

Then I observed a crime.

A comrade has plucked two of Clyde's tail feathers.

(I assume plucking another's feather is a bird crime. Given the importance of feathers, plucking one from another must be a grave insult at the very least.)

Clyde suffered more harassment.

Keepers arrived and discussed the situation: "I think it's Clyde." "He doesn't fly very well." "Is he bleeding?" They put Clyde into a carrier and took him inside for examination by a veterinarian. 

Man, this food is dry.

African grey parrot: Same ol' yellow stuff. It tastes okay, but it is soooo dry.

OK. What if I get some in my beak...

turn around...

and work my way over to the water dish? Gotta hang on with my beak without losing the goods.

Strrrrech my right foot... almost there.

Aaaah. After the yellow stuff soaks a little while it goes down easy.