On January 22nd, Matt and I headed up to the Aviary to celebrate Andy's, the Andean Condor's, 52nd birthday. That's right, 52nd.
The day started with the keepers talking about Andean Condors in the Chase Mill. They talked about how they live, where they live, their massive 10'6" wing span, and the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Andean Condors and what part Andy and the aviary play.
After that, they had a special vulture bird show...in the hail. It was okay though, and kind of fun. There we learned that vultures were called buzzards by explorers because they reminded them of actual buzzards (which are hawks - who knew?) Vultures are not birds of prey, but are carion eaters, and quite clean ones, too. They have featherless heads so they don't get bacteria and junk on them, which helps keep them clean. Also, if you've ever seen a vulture sunning with its wings out, odds are it recently ate. The UV rays disinfect their feathers.
Then we headed over to Andy's cage to watch him rip open his birthday piñata, which one of his keepers made for him. The piñata had one of Andy's favorite treats in it, beef heart.
For some trivia - Andy weighs about 30 pounds. He still has hollow bones to fly :)
Condors will also stand on their food to help them rip off meat - which you can see Andy doing in these videos :)
Another fun fact that I have to share is about the chalky stuff you see on vultures' legs. Since they don't sweat, they have to stay cool in warm weather somehow. You see, vultures will urinate on their legs, and as it evaporates, it cools them down. The chalky stuff is what's left over :)
After we got cake back at the mill, we wandered around the rest of the aviary. The day was nice once it stopped storming because it had been warmer, so more birds were out and about. Even one of the kookaburras laughed for us :)
We spent quite a bit of time in the South American Pavilion again (because it's warm there), and were pleasantly surprised with another small bird show, showcasing a red billed toucan and an African red crested turaco.
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