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Posts for December 2010
< BackDiary of a Palm Cockatoo (part 4)
Hi Everyone
It’s a girl ! We have received results from DNA sexing and they have confirmed that our chick is a female. She is continuing to do well and has been staying at the Zoo full time since she reached 2 months of age. She is now only being fed twice a day during work hours with a drink of water around lunch time to keep her well hydrated.
The wing flapping photo shows how much feather growth is occurring at the moment. The huge primary and secondary flight feathers are still mostly enclosed by the sheaths that protect the feather as it grows. The feathers are very sensitive when they are growing and being bumped or broken can cause a lot of bleeding as each one has a blood supply until it has finished growing.
Most of her energy is still being directed towards feather growth at this stage as her body is getting close to full size. She has also almost reached her peak weight. The peak weight occurs before fledging as this gives a little extra leeway for increased energy requirements at this time. Parent reared chicks are also sometimes starved out of the nest by their parents. They need a little extra weight to ensure that they survive this period. It will probably still be another two to three weeks before she fledges and starts flying.
She is becoming much more interested in her surroundings and is starting to pick things up and manipulate them with her beak and tongue. We now give her a small bowl of food and a fruit kebab everyday to give her something to chew on and to start introducing solid food. Although she isn’t actually eating anything by herself yet we have seen evidence that she is starting to chew. She has also made a few very clumsy attempts to use her right foot to hold food. This usually results in a face plant into the sawdust.
Our next big step will be fledging and introducing her to her parents so that she gets some much needed socialization to help her learn that she is in fact a cockatoo and not a person.
I will keep you posted.
Cheers
Trena
Bird Keeper, Adelaide Zoo
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