Andean Condor

With an 11 foot wingspan, the Andean condor is one of the largest flying birds in the world. In spite of her majestic size, we still refer to this condor as "baby" since she was hatched at the World Bird Sanctuary by breeder birds on loan. She is, in fact, three years old. In this video you can see that she is eagerly looking for a treat. I obliged her at last, but the challenge of feeding a condor and video recording was beyond my skill level!



We hope to make this "baby" part of our education program and she has been very responsive to human interaction so far.

IT'S HERE AT LAST!

THE WORLD BIRD SANCTUARY'S

OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND

OCTOBER 18 & 19
10 AM - 4 PM

The weekend everbody waits for all year has finally arrived and admission is FREE!

Come join us for a unique wildlife experience!

Performances by our amazing birds of prey in flight


FACE PAINTING FOR KIDS AND ADULTS ALIKE!


BRING YOUR CAMERAS! Don't want to lug along the camera? There will be a Photo Op for those guests who would like to purchase a photo of themselves holding one of our birds!

Crafts and games for the kids, a children's petting area, and interactive performances, Sing Alongs, and Story Telling by our talented staff and volunteers for the youngsters.


Meet some of the rarest birds on the planet up close and personal -- from the smallest --- to the largest.



Meet our ravens - who know how to recycle and how to take donations.

Enjoy educational and entertaining presentations by our naturalists, who are more than willing to answer any questions.

Take advantage of this opportunity to do some Christmas shopping in our gift shop. Have a conversation with one of the many talented talking birds on display in our Gift Shop area.

Take this rare opportunity to tour our seldom seen "Behind the scenes" area. There will be a shuttle - or for those hikers among us, this area may be reached by a short walk through the woods on our nature trail. "Behind the Scenes" is open to the public ONLY on this one weekend. See where our breeding pairs live and where we train our performing avian ambassadors. Also, see our young Andean Condor who was hatched here in our breeding area.

Walk the short trail in our upper area and see our avian hospital where injured birds are treated. Continue along this path to view many of the seldom seen species that we house and care for every day. The birds in these enclosures are unreleasable, mostly due to injury or habituation, and will live out their lives in our safe secure environment while helping to educate thousands of people every year. View our free flying flock of Thickbill Parrots. All exhibits are Handicapped Accessible.



Come visit with us this weekend for a unique outdoor experience! Wear comfortable clothing and shoes as most paths are not paved. Please remember--FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR GUESTS AND OUR BIRDS - NO PETS ALLOWED!

Directions: Hwy 141 to the North Outer Road west (the ramp is immediately north of I-44!) Turn left toward Lone Elk County Park. Travel three miles. WBS' front gate will be on your right.

Pictures of the kookaburra

This guy's so new he doesn't even have a name yet. But here he is after moving to the ETC. He likes his food!

It's Othello again!

Othello loves the camera...



...and the camera loves him back!

A new friend

We have a new kookaburra at the sanctuary! He came to us from Canada and has plenty to say:



In this video you see him in a temporary cage while we checked his health and prepared an enclosure. He was moved into the ETC the same day and is doing great! I'll post a video update soon.

Beak of the Week!

Lindsay from Indiana, you guessed last week's beak correctly. Congratulations!! That little cutie is Nemo the African Grey.

This week we have a beak that specializes in using tools, by breaking ostrich eggs with a small rock. This bird, once known as "Pharoh's Chicken," was the symbol of the ancient Egyptian goddess, Nekhbet.

These eyes light up when they see rabbit!

Unlike most raptors, this bird doesn't use its talons to carry nesting material, preferring to use its beak instead.

Good luck solving the riddle of this week's mystery beak!

A learning experience...

Every year thousands of visitors pass through the gates of The World Bird Sanctuary. Of all those guests, none are more welcome or cherished than those youngsters in the elementary schools. One of the primary goals of our organization is to get the message of conservation to this age child, because as our director, Walter Crawford, says "They are the future".

The photos show a Kindergarten group from St. John's Lutheran school in Ellisville enjoying our weathering area after attending an education program in our nature center. This recently accredited Blue Ribbon School was taking advantage of one of our many programs that was designed to be integrated into
school curriculums.



This post was written and photographed by Gay Schroer.

Rojo loves fruit

I'm so happy Mr. Rojo Turaco is home for the winter. In this video he is training the human to give him fruit:



Here's a tip: it helps to have him "step up" BEFORE you give him the fruit.

Freeloading vulture relatives!

Have you ever had a group of relatives drop in unannounced looking for a free meal? That's what's been happening at the World Bird Sanctuary lately! If you're walking along the upper trail and see a huge bird swooping right over your head, it's likely the wild relatives of our resident Turkey Vultures coming in to check out what they perceive to be a "free" meal in our birds' enclosure. Of course, they can't really get to the meal because of the protective netting, but they can hope, can't they?



This vulture family reunion was captured by Gay Schroer!

Chikara would like my full attention!

Here's a video of our beautiful trumpeter hornbill, Chikara, who would really like me to put the camera down and give her a grape or a cuddle. Preferably in that order!

Adopt a bunny spotlight: Cadbury

Cadbury's Story

Species: Mini Rex Hybrid Rabbit
Received: 6/9/2000

Cadbury was donated to our Milwaukee Care for Critters program in Wisconsin. After participating in that program for about a year, he came to live at World Bird Sanctuary's Office of Wildlife Learning Nature Center in Valley Park, Missouri.

Here at the Nature Center, he lives happily with his Guinea Pig in an open top enclosure where thousands of children (and adults) come in contact with him every year. Unlike our raptors, Cadbury is pettable, making him a great addition to our Nature Center experience.

Cadbury was named for his resemblance to the Cadbury bunny (look at him head on with the nose twitching). Your adoption donation will help purchase the rabbit pellets, produce, and alfalfa he loves so well.

To adopt Cadbury, simply click our donation button, make a donation of $50, and specify in your payment notes: Adopt-a-bird: CADBURY. Also include your name, phone number, and mailing address so that we can send you your adoption materials!

Every donation helps to feed, house, and provide medical care for the bird of your choice! Adopt-A-Bird Parents Receive:

• *A personal visit with the bunny you adopt!!!!! Call 636-861-3225 to set up a time for
• your personal visit.
• * Certificate of Adoption
• * Color photo of the bunny you've adopted
• * Sponsorship Card
• * One year's subscription to Mews News (our quarterly newsletter)
• * Life History and Natural History of the bunny
• * 10% Discount off WBS merchandise
• * Invitation to Sponsors-only events like Camera Day
• * Discounts on WBS Special Events
• * WBS Decal

Adopt A Bird spotlights are written and photographed by Gay Schroer.

Our baby thickbill has fledged!

Look what we have! A new baby Thickbill Parrot! He (or she) was hatched in one of the nestboxes in the Thickbill free flight enclosure on our upper trail--right in full view of the public. We are especially excited about this new addition to our flock because of this species' endangered status.

Thickbill parrots are the only remaining parrot indigenous to the United States and are considered Rare and Endangered. It is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild, mostly found only in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. Status is ENDANGERED. Attempts to reestablish a population in Arizona during the 1980s was unsuccessful due to the birds’ inability to elude a well established population of predator species.

The World Bird Sanctuary is fortunate to have a well established flock of these rare birds, who reside in a free flight enclosure where they are able to live in a flock as they would in the wild. It is hoped that someday our flock, as well as those from other zoos, will be the nucleus of a reestablished wild population.

Our new baby last week, trying to decide if he really wants to venture out into this scary new world.


Our youngster has fledged and is flying with the rest of the flock. Note his white beak as opposed to the black beak of the adults.


Our new baby is flying independently the full length of the enclosure, along with the rest of the flock

The next time you visit WBS, be sure to walk down the upper trail to the Thickbill enclosure and see if you can spot our new addition. Look for his white beak!

Today's post was written and photographed by Gay Schroer.

Beak of the Week!

Woo Hoo Christi!!! In no time at all you correctly guessed last week's beak: the harris hawk. You were closely followed by anonymous and anonymous from Tennessee (I'm from there too) who also got it right. Christi, I enjoyed your blog post on the Renaissance Festival by the way, and wanted to share that I'm pretty sure the raven you saw was Mischief, my FAVORITE raven in the whole world. Congratulations and great job!

Speaking of birds who stand out among their peers, this week's beak is about as cute as it gets:

You should hear me talk! Or maybe you already have...

Is that a peanut I see in your hand?

If you've heard that opposable toes make you smarter, you heard right.

Good luck, happy guessing, and I'll see you here next week!

You're a superstar!

Nemo (the African grey parrot) and Susan (the human) go through a practice routine before breakfast:



Nemo spent his summer performing at the Milwaukee County Zoo this year and I know he wowed a lot of people.

Who is Buddy's hero?

Susan. Without a doubt.



Buddy the amazon parrot is one of the best talkers at WBS. He's no slouch as a singer, either.