As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Rare birds sanctuary to open in Bahrain

Hundreds of exotic birds, including some critically endangered, will go on display for the first time in Bahrain next month at a new sanctuary, a report said.

A blizzard of colour can be seen at Al Aziza Birds Kingdom at Amwaj Islands, which features beautifully plumed birds from the personal collection of leading Bahraini businessman Abdulaziz Kanoo, according to the report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It houses approximately 400 to 500 winged creatures and will be shown to the public for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The GDN was given an exclusive tour of the facility, where aviculturist in charge Mike Gammond explained about the different species including the exotic toucan and red-vented cockatoo - a critically endangered bird numbering less than 1,000 in the wild.

"The palm cockatoo nests in palm trees and eats palm nuts, hence their name," he said.

"They're from Indonesia and the tip of North Australia. When they're ill, their cheeks change colour and become pale. They absolutely love pomegranates, so when they're ill, we give it to them and the colour comes back into their cheeks."

Rapid bursts of colour are seen at the sanctuary as the birds flock, mate and nest together.

It was the brainchild of Kanoo and Gammond, who breed endangered birds to boost their population and provide buyers with captive-born species in a bid to stop poachers from grabbing birds from the wild.


No comments:

Post a Comment