The kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family.
QBE Free Flight Bird Show - Bird Show Blog
Keyword: bird show
Barinya Soars Closer to Free Flight Bird Show (26/7/2010)
Once found weak and unable to fly, Barinya the White Bellied Sea Eagle has slowly graduated to short flights over the amphitheatre at the QBE Free Flight Bird Show which she now calls home.
Taronga Celebrates NAIDOC (9/7/2010)
Hi, I am Natasha, Aboriginal Education Officer at Taronga Zoo. Since recently starting at the zoo I've been caught up in school holiday fever with all the NAIDOC celebrations that are going on in the Zoo. NAIDOC week recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and their contributions to the Australian community.
Farewell and Hello Nike! (14/4/2010)
The other day I went out of the zoo to fly my female Peregrine Falcon, Nike. I’ve been training Nike since October now and everyday she’s becoming a more and more competent flier.
Rare Display of Power (8/4/2010)
It’s recently come to the attention of the Bird Show crew that there is a wild Powerful Owl hanging out in the Zoo grounds. Powerful Owls are a vulnerable species often found in wooded areas, along the east coast of Australia, so to have one in the Sydney CBD area is amazing!
Making Friends with Barry (4/3/2010)
Barry the Pacific Baza is a stunning addition to our bird show.
An Aussie Name for an Elusive Aussie Bird (25/2/2010)
Sydney is about as far south as you’ll see a Pacific Baza but these ooddly named birds still come through Taronga’s Wildlife Hospital from time to time.
A Star is Born (5/2/2010)
After a couple of months of training, Ripley the Barking Owl starred in her first free flight bird show this week.
Lets go fly a Kite.. (29/1/2010)
The crazy ups and downs of the weather lately have made for some interesting flying for Dixie the Whistling Kite. On the hot, still days she has done more sitting than flying but the constantly changing temperatures and wind directions have meant that on other days she’s done some spectacular flying. Southerly breezes bring the best flying conditions to the bird show and those are the days that I feel truly lucky to be doing this job!
Nikes First Free Flight (18/1/2010)
Lately we have been doing quite a bit of work with falcons at Bird Show, rehabilitating Clarkie, lure flying Khan and recently we’ve been training Nike. Nike is a female Peregrine Falcon named after the Greek goddess of Victory. When we lure fly our falcons, the falcons always win. I thought the name was very appropriate.
Super Size Chickens (6/1/2010)
The Red Jungle Fowl chicks have quadrupled in size! They were just 30 grams and now at just over 20 days old they’re 147 grams. That’s a lot of growth.
Clarkie decides to go on Christmas Eve (30/12/2009)
After weeks of intensive effort put in by trainer Erin Stone, with our Peregrine Falcon Clarkie, decided he was ready to be released last Wednesday. Originally we wanted to release Clarkie in January but with it being a very windy day on Xmas Eve, the falcon decided it was time to go.
Ripley Takes The Plunge (29/12/2009)
Ripley is on her way at being one of the newest stars of Taronga’s Free Flight Bird Show but, part of her training includes flying out of tricky situations.
Bite Sized Treats (18/12/2009)
All I can hear as I type this is ‘cheep, cheep, cheep’, because … we have some new chicks. We have four and they are Red Jungle Fowl. It is from this species that many common chickens are descended. They are the original recipe! They are so tiny, very fluffy and extremely cute and only weighed 30 grams when they arrived. 30 grams!
Ripley Takes Flight! (15/12/2009)
Ripley the Barking Owl is now 12 weeks old and has already started free fly training for the QBE Free Flight Bird Show. Watch the video diary and see her in action.
Training New Recruit Shows Progress (9/12/2009)
We’ve been taking Clarkie, one of the newest members of Bird Show, off site for some training.
Falcons, Trainers and Automobiles (4/12/2009)
Khan, our Peregrine Falcon, took free-flying to t a new level last Monday. We went off-site to fly him down at Balmoral Oval at 10 am and recovered him later that day at 3:50 pm, just in time to knock-off work. After a day off to recuperate, we jumped straight back into routine this morning, with very interesting results.
Billy Walks the Walk (26/11/2009)
Today, Erin and I took our female brolga Billy for a walk around the zoo. She has been in our QBE Free Flight Bird Show for nearly as long as it has been running. Going for a walk is something a little different for Billy and allows her to investigate different areas.
Ripley is a Girl! (6/11/2009)
Although we’ve previously been referring to Ripley as a boy, as it turns out, he is actually a she! We found out only a few days ago.
Ripley the Owl Rides the Cable Car (2/11/2009)
Ripley is nearly fully grown now and spending every day at Bird Show. She does require a little more attention though as she can fly well and is flying all over the place!
Its Not Only Birds we Train at the Bird Show (30/10/2009)
Whenever somebody new starts we like to give them a project to ease them into the animal training world. For Merryn her first is an agouti rat called Oberon that she has decided, against my better judgement, to rename Cupcakes.
Back to School for Korridge Cup (14/10/2009)
Korridge-Cup, the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo that took a flight through suburban Mosman last week, has also been lacking a little bit of a confidence in his training sessions at Bird Show.
New Toys for Ripley (13/10/2009)
Ripley’s starting to look more and more like an adult Barking Owl. He’s now completely covered in feathers, making him look less like a fuzz ball.
Fly-Off Shenanigans! (9/10/2009)
Yesterday was an extremely windy day for us at the zoo, with gusts up to 60 km/hr! On days like these we modify our show as some birds struggle in those winds, but even those that have proved themselves before can find it a bit tough.
His Name is Ripley! (6/10/2009)
Our Barking Owl chick has been with us just over a week now and is growing quickly! He is now 500 grams and that’s a lot of growth for a little owl, especially when you consider at full size they only weigh around 700 grams. We’ve also named him Ripley! Although we won’t know its sex for a while yet, but in the meantime we’re calling it a he.
Baby Owls... They Grow Up So Fast! (25/9/2009)
This morning a Barking Owl chick arrived to be raised by zookeeper Erin and then trained for the QBE Free Flight Bird Show.
Condors Choose Private Hatching (18/9/2009)
Our plan to study the hatching of a new Andean Condor chick using cameras in the nest boxes came unravelled today.
Condors Do Mating Dance (16/9/2009)
We’re getting ready for what may be an interesting time down at Bird Show where Bruce and Connie, our resident pair of Andean Condors, have started showing signs they are attempting to breed.
Lure Flying Khan (31/8/2009)
I’m currently learning how to lure fly our Peregrine Falcon Khan. We have a leather lure that we swing around and send out to Khan as he flies by. If he catches it, he wins. And Khan always wins!
Owls, Eagles & Worms (27/8/2009)
The Conservatorium High School paid us a visit today. They came behind the scenes after spending the night at the zoo.
Elliott Makes a Nest (14/8/2009)
Today we gave our flock of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos a phone book to play with. We hung it up on the side of their aviary and at first they weren’t too sure about it.
Leslie the Condor Soars High (7/8/2009)
This was a very exciting week for us! Leslie, our beautiful Andean Condor, went for a huge fly above the bird show amphitheatre ‘wowing’ our visitors.
NAIDOC Show Season Finishing Up (28/7/2009)
It’s been an exhilarating time. Thirty-three NAIDOC shows have been presented in the past month.
