Final Days at Toledo Zoo

Haley Wasserman

Year: Senior

Hometown: Medina, OH

Internship: Avian care

Location: The Toledo Zoo and Aquarium

I have so many good memories to reflect on as my internship draws to a close. Since my last post, I have spent time working at the Zoo’s Avian Breeding Center. This building is home to Pink-neck Fruit Doves, Many colored Fruit Doves, Anna’s Hummingbirds and many other small bird species. My mornings consisted mostly of taking care of the brooder room. This room is home to an assortment of birds, including two Bali Mynahs, a Bird of Paradise, a House Finch and two Impeyan Pheasant chicks. Each morning I changed bedding for each bird, pulled dishes from the day before and prepared diets for that day.

Adult male Impeyan Pheasant

Once all of these birds were taken care of, I would move to the building’s back hallway and take care of several more birds, including Blue Crowned Hanging Parrots and a Yellow backed Chattering Lorikeet. Also in this hallway are an amazing collection of Many colored and Pink neck Fruit Doves and Hummingbirds which are in breeding pairs. I have to be as quiet as possible to minimize stress to these birds. The Zoo has an amazing success rate for offspring in these breeding programs. This is the only zoo in the United States to have Pink neck and Many colored Fruit Doves in captivity and it is a huge accomplishment to be so successful.

 

The zoo's display showing where in the world its in situ conservation is. Here are the Pink Necked and Many Colored Fruit Doves!

I have been lucky enough to watch the progress of a Cinereous Vulture chick as he grows under the careful care of his father. It is amazing how rapidly the chick has grown, it seems like every day when I come in he has more and more feathers! It is so fascinating to see how gentle and timid the father is with his chick. It is a tender side of vultures that people usually do not get to see.

 

For my final rotation, I am helping keepers in several exhibits around the Zoo. I start my mornings helping to clean outdoor yards for the Cassowaries. Sometimes if it is hot enough outside, I get to help give the female a good misting session with the hose. She loves it so much that she will lay down and wallow in the pool of mud and lift her wings to make sure you don’t miss any spots on her!

 

Once the Cassowaries are shifted to their outdoor yards and have their morning diets, I head over to the African Penguin exhibit, Penguin Beach. This is home to several arctic species of waterfowl and 24 African Penguins. I spend time power washing the outdoor exhibit and cleaning algae off of the viewing glass in places where it is submerged under water. Then, the penguins have a daily feeding at 10:30 a.m. each day, where they respond to the cue of a bell ringing and come to the keeper on exhibit to receive fish. The keepers stuff the fish with daily vitamins to ensure their dietary needs are met. The keeper takes a clipboard in with her and makes note of how many fish each penguin eats, and who still needs to take their vitamins. I love watching this in the mornings because all of the penguins have different personalities and it’s obvious when they are interacting with the keepers.

 

African Penguins

Some mornings, instead of staying at penguins once the exhibit is cleaned, I will head over to help another keeper with our Pheasantry exhibit. This area holds ten exhibits with various pheasants, Kiwis, Tawny Frogmouths, Kookaburras and Magpies. I help pull diets, clean dishes, get a head count on all birds and then replace food and water for the day.

Kookaburra

Tawny Frogmouths

I also help keepers with some of our seaduck and waterfowl exhibits. There is one large exhibit with American Flamingoes, White fronted Geese, Plovers, Pelicans, Mergansers and duck species. With the amazing amount of diversity in this exhibit, it is understandable that it requires a lot of daily attention. There is a large communal pool on exhibit, so some days of the week the keeper I am with has to drain or half-drain and refill the pool- which can take a long time because of how large it is!

Two posters I created for the Bird Department's keepers

The amount of variety on my final rotation is immense and it has helped me to get such a well-rounded experience. Working with so many different species has aided me in understanding how unique different types of birds are and how wildly their mannerisms can differ. I also loved getting a chance to work with all of the keepers in the bird department. Each has their own unique advice and knowledge that they were willing to share with me. I am so grateful for everything each and every person in the bird department has taught me this summer. It has solidified my decision to pursue a degree working with birds once I graduate, and it is so relieving to have validation about your career choices!