PPC: Hoy es martes el trece de julio

I had a feeling that today would be a great day when the man at Kaldi's told me to have a beautiful day.

I cleaned exhibits this morning, was informed with the sad news that the puffin chick that had hatched was found in the pool yesterday morning. Evidently the parents were not exactly sure what to do with it. It was their first chick so even having it hatch is a start.

When I cleaned rockhopper side, things went pretty much as they always do. Cuatro would see me and begin his ranting. When I cleaned big penguin, Woody followed me around and was very interested in my hair, which was naturally frizzy and moving in the air. When I was scrubbing the bridge, Double was up there and at first, she didn't seem to want me scrubbing, as she was attacking the brush, but when I moved on, I said hi to her and she bowed to me. There is something very flattering about having a penguin greet you. Everytime I said hi to her, and told her what a pretty bird she is, she would tilt her beak down, turn around to face me, and then bow. She did it several times and I always pet her afterward. Woody was still following me after I cleaned the bridge and then Kong had come up to me. He seemed to be interested in my hair as well and was, at one point, leaning most of his body weight on me to reach some of the hair on my head maybe on the other side. That or he was trying to mount me.

We finished up the morning by cleaning Humboldt. I found baby Guillermo and was talking to him and petting him right off the bat. He seemed to remember me and is at least friendly to me. Many of these birds are molting or have molted. More have than have not. They are grouchy and chubby. My coworker, as she feeds them, grabs some of their feathers and then throws them in the air like confetti.

In the afternoon, we candled two puffin eggs, a horned and a tufted. The horned egg is fertile and doing well while the tufted egg is not fertile. Hopefully the horned puffin chick will hatch.

I cleaned the holding rooms in the afternoon. The magellanic penguins are not too familiar with me and don't much like the hose so they stayed in the opposite room from me. However, I can imitate their call well enough that sometimes they reply. I have noticed that one in particular usually replies if not more of them, Marco. Also, as I was filling one pool and finishing up cleaning the other room, the birds were hanging out near where the steam was coming from. There was steam because the water filling the pool is not cold and the air conditioner is trying to cool the room. A couple birds were standing close to where a lot of the steam was and they were fluffing their feathers and the patches of skin near their beak and eyes were a deep pink color. This, of course, is their way of cooling down, pumping blood to the bare skin to allow it to dissipate body heat. I thought it was interesting that they were enjoying heating up a little bit.

When I picked up plates and fed this afternoon, I hand fed many capelin to Barry, the king penguin, and I fed two herring to Woody. Woody doesn't seem to be able to handle three herring but I hope sometime he will. It is amazing seeing a bird that small gulp down a herring. But Barry sang to me when I was feeding him. Also, the gentoos like to feed out of the water so I usually throw several handfuls of fish into the water for them. And, naturally, the crowd loves to watch. I went outside to observe my coworker feed the Humboldts because I normally am not involved in this process. I ended up sitting with Guillermo for a while but was immediately bombarded by the other young bird, Tortuga. She is extremely jealous of Guillermo and was observed today swimming with Guillermo and not allowing him to surface.

We finished the day by placing the ramp on the pool and Trouble coming out of the water to my coworker at her command. Trouble was even in a good enough mood to bow to me as well.

Birdhouse: July 12, 2010

Today I was the keeper in West and had a lovely time when I decided to clean out exhibit 7: the Tawny Frogmouths.

There is a pair of male birds in this exhibit and they are pretty cute. They sit together in the same spot, pressed up against one another. They were not happy when I was cleaning their exhibit but afterward, I thought I'd offer them a shower if they wanted one. The idea is to spray the hose in one spot so if the bird is interested, he will go in the mist and bathe. If not, he won't be annoyed or afraid of the water. I tried this, putting the stream nearby where the two birds were sitting, but, as usual, they did not react. These birds are stoic, as a coworker put it, in that, they tend to sit very still and sleep all day. I believe they are nocturnal. Also, if they do notice you and are awake, they will give you quite a glare. Anyway, I had the hose running and decided to purposely spray them a bit so that they knew I was offering a shower. I did so and they didn't have much of a reaction. I decided to be a little bit more agressive and just put the mist on them so that if they wanted to react, they would. Slowly, I noticed that they were fluffing their feathers, and more importantly, not panicking. I was happy to notice that they were beginning to fluff their feathers and even rub their beak on the branch. Soon, the two birds were spreading their wings in the water. I began laughing when one of the birds spread out both of his wings, they hung down below the perch, and put his head down with the feathers on his back ruffled up. He was practically lying down in the mist. I had never seen these birds so happy. Or at least, I had never seen this much reaction out of them. I enjoyed showering them and I think that they enjoyed it thoroughly.

Another thing I noticed today, I have noticed it before as well, when I shower certain birds, they react by first scratching their beak and/or rubbing their beak on the perch. For example, just today, I showered the rhinocerous hornbills, the bearded barbet, the red billed toucan, and the tawny frogmouths. Each of these birds, as they are first misted, reacts by stretching their foot behind their wing to scratch at their beak, or by taking their beak and rubbing it on the side on a branch. Even the tawny frogmouths, who have significantly less prominant beaks than the other birds mentioned, rubbed their beaks on the branch as one of their first reactions. I wonder if maybe this has developed because the beak is a very important part of the birds life and it is priority when it comes to being clean. Well, to take that further, I guess feathers are top priority, but when water is involved, the birds may see it as an opportunity to clean the thing they use to maintain their feathers: the beak. I find it interesting that this happens again and again.

Birdhouse Goings on: July 11, 2010

As far as bird interaction today, I didn't have too much.

I changed waters in the basement as well as pulling night plates. The birds have the same behavior as I have ever noticed. Some of the tinamou decide to come towards me when I am changing their water rather than running away. The Kookaburra was trying to be vocal when I was changing his water and those around him.

Noteably, but not new, the Sunbittern upstairs on display was sitting on the railing letting guests pet him. I shooed him into the exhibit and the keeper in that area told me that the bird is too much of a hassle to deal with anymore and cannot be ignored. Luckily, by the end of the day, the curator decided that we could put him in a "time out" in the basement for a while, and then put him back on exhibit to see if his behavior changes.

Also, it was noted by a coworker and I observed it as well, the Red-billed Hornbill has been pulling apart a plant in his exhibit and then taking the leaves and holding on to them and smacking them against the branches, which is an interesting behavior.

PPC: July 10, 2010

Today had some interesting highlights:

This morning, I cleaned the Humboldt exhibit and I found baby Guillermo fitting in quite well. He was swimming when I saw him and I talked to him and then cleaned the exhibit and finally got to where he was sitting. I talked to him as I had before and he seemed to recognize me because he chirped as I talked to him and he didn't mind me petting him. I was happy that he remembered me.

I moved inside to clean rockhopper and was amused by some of the rockhoppers. Several birds that hang out up top and barely move even for me to clean enjoy the mist of the hose. This was my impression anyhow. It seems that they don't even mind the full flow of the hose and they don't even mind having it on their entire back. It is fun watching them bend over just a little bit as the water runs over their back. They also tend to fluff their feathers a bit. One of these rockhoppers, Cuatro, tends to vocalize nearly the entire time I am cleaning where he prefers to stand. I can say his name and he puts his head down as if he is going to start vocalizing.

When I helped clean big penguin, I started scrubbing and was approached by a king penguin. I assumed that it was Barry or maybe Kong, who normally approach me but to no avail. It was number six, Mikey, who decided to be my friend. I think at first he walked up very close to me, and then maybe checked out my boots. Also, he began to trumpet. I was flattered to say the least. I continued cleaning and he continued remaining very close to me and also trumpeting numerous times, at least 10 times I would say. It was interesting to be approached by another penguin. Especially since number six has never really been outgoing in any particular manner. I was happy.

When feeding this morning, I believe I gave Woody a herring and that he ate it. Also, when feeding this afternoon, Woody ate a herring from me and also a trout that had was in with the herring. I am impressed with how large a fish such a small bird can consume.

A tufted puffin egg pipped on Thursday but today had not made any more progress. We ended up removing some of the shell where the bird had broken through the shell. The hole is in the airsac so the chick is alright with some fresh air. Later, after lunch, we hadn't seen any more progress so we opened the hole a bit more and saw the bird's beak and heard it chirping in a very healthy fashion.

PPC: July 7, 2010

I cleaned exhibits this morning. I forgot to write yesterday about tufted puffin 7 who is ill. My coworker observed her breathing very heavily in the exhibit at the end of the day. She was taking extremely exaggerated breaths and heaving with an open beak for each breath. She was in the water but my coworker mentioned to me that the last puffin to act like this died the next day. We caught her up and put her in a brooder box with a tube supplying oxygen attached. She was kept in the box overnight and seemed to be doing better. The puffin was moved the next day to the brooding room upstairs and was heaving at the top of the little area that was given. She was still observed breathing by heaving her chest visibly with each breath. She was taken to the hospital where, during x-rays, she began crashing so was then taken care of to become stable. Once back in the brooding room, she was put back on oxygen to help her breathing.

I cleaned exhibits, as I mentioned, and noticed some fairly normal behavior from the birds. During feeding, one of the king penguins, Captain, has been eating many many herring. When I go to feed the other birds, Captain will take his beak and rub it on the back of my leg. It certainly tickles and I believe I gave him another fish just so he would be content.

Later, when I fed the birds in the afternoon, I had some extra herring from the morning and they were fairly small. Woody was following me and hopping along near me so I assumed he was hungry. Normally, Woody does not do anything more than awkwardly bite at herring but when I offered him a smaller herring, I guess his hunger won the battle as he ate not one, but two herring. One of which, was a decent sized fish especially for a little rockhopper penguin. I was proud of him. Also, he continued to feed when I helped him with the tray of fish. When I had come back to feed herring to the kings, one of the trays I had put over in the far area was already empty. Later, I found more fish that I had not put on the trays for the exhibits.

PPC: July 6, 2010

My apologies for lacking in the posts. Here's what happened today.

I cleaned exhibits this morning, beginning with Humboldt to make sure I am not out there when the heat is blistering. Timiteo and his mate Chica were standing by the door when I began. I had to walk through the door several times and I dislike being bitten by penguins which is exactly what Timiteo likes to do to everyone. He becomes very defensive of where he is standing near the door. After he deficates, he begins to bend over close to the ground and tilt his head to look at me with only one eye. Sometimes, I will talk to him and evidently, this brings him to talk to me as well through his classic braying. If I am manuvering around him during the vocalizations, he tends to turn to face me as I move and sometimes peck me if he can. His mate is less interactive and generally moves away from me. I decided to move him inside so he would not be in my way and/or bothered by my cleaning around him. I put him in the holding area with Tortuga and baby Guillermo.

I continued cleaning making sure to avoid the birds that are molting as they are grouchy and territorial. I cleaned quickly as it was very hot outside already and one Humboldt penguin who has been having breathing troubles was due for a procedure. I went inside to help clean and feed big penguin before 10 a.m. As I cleaned the exhibit, Barry, the king penguin, decided to stay by my side. He wanted to peck at the scrub brush as I used it and makes the effort to bend his head far down to try and reach it. He also investigated my boots and pants. He doesn't mind me petting the back of his neck or putting my face on his shoulder and cooing into where I assume his ear is. He didn't call to me directly today but I think was calling when I had moved away from him and he didn't follow.

As I cleaned the bridge, I was hurrying to finish but was surprised with a visit from gentoo 18, Double. Double rocketed out of the water, the bridge is a rather high jump target for the birds, and as she landed, I was surprised and then she bowed to me right as she landed. Gentoo penguins bow as a greeting and they also make what some people call a hiss, but I would describe as more of an exaggerated exhale, similar to when you purposely breathe out to fog glass. I was very flattered to have her jump out of the water to greet me. She stayed with me for a few minutes as well because when I turned around she was still there. I put my face close to hers on one side and say, "Hi double" and she bows again. I then pet her on the back, which she I think expects because she hunches her head down and lets me pet her. It was a nice interaction.

On a side note, yesterday, I gave my friends a tour of PPC and I introduced them to Woody. I have heard some theories as to whether or not the birds recognize the individual keepers as individuals, or maybe they recognize our voices, or maybe they only recognize the baby talk in the usually higher frequency, or maybe they only recognize our outfits, or maybe they associate us with food, and maybe they know their own name and maybe they don't. Personally, I think they do know their own names. I am not sure how far along the recognition goes but they seem to know their own name and from experience with my pet bird, I believe it. Also, I think they at least recognize our voices because different keepers get different reactions from the birds. Case in point, yesterday, Woody was being a good little bird and just being his adorable self for my friends when my coworker came down the stairs. He didn't know I would be there because I was working at the bird house. Well, I had heard before that he could make Woody vocalize like an adult rockhopper. I only hear him cheep or just make short chirps. I asked my coworker to get Woody to vocalize for my friends and as soon as he starts talking to the bird, Woody begins the classic, very loud, very squawky, vocalization. Rockhopper penguins also will put their head down when they begin to call and I noticed that Woody did this too. He is beginning to act very much like an adult and only needs his distinct plumage to seal the deal. Maybe I take that back. He still does not eat out of the tray on his own. He will eat fish from the tray if you place them head out on the edge of the tray so all he has to do is grab the head and gulp, and usually only will do that if you are touching the fish, we assume he associates the ability to swallow with the white gloves we wear that normally hold the fish. Lately, we have not been feeding him and merely placing the fish in the way that he likes and maybe watching to see that he eats several, but then leaving him on his own. He tends to follow us instead of eat though. However, if you squat down and place the fish, he has been getting better, or maybe more hungry, and will eat the fish on his own, as we have known that he knows how to do all along. I do think that he has not been eating too much on his own because he acts very hungry around feeding time and even this morning I gave him a small herring and he ate it with no problem at all.

Today, we took Pedro, the Humboldt who has been in holding upstairs with breathing troubles, to have a procedure done. We took him to the hospital in a tub with ice in the bottom and throughout the procedure, placed ice packs on his feet, flippers and body. That makes the process all the more unique. We took some x-rays and they showed beautifully his skeleton and, more importantly and relevantly, his trachea. Also, his heart seemed to be blurry and not as distinct as it should be, while the nurse said she was having a hard time hearing it with a stethoscope. We attempted an ultrasound but it didn't work through the feathers and even when the vet plucked some feathers, there was no image. It is possible that we were trying to view his heart through one of his airsacs which would keep the image from showing up because it doesn't work through air.