BREEDING THE TWELVE-WIRED BIRD OF PARADISE

BREEDI N G THE TW ELVE- W I RED BI RD OF PARADI SE

I N W ELTVOGELPARK W ALSRODE ( GERMAN Y)

Photo above: Male of the tw elve- w ired Bird of Paradise.

Age is not an obstacle!

Author: Dipl.- Biol. Anne Hoppm ann Hand- rearing Team : Vet erinarian Andreas Frei, Biologist Jan Dam s, Anim al Keepers Wolfgang Magnus, Janina Gerbat sch, Sina Eggers and Kim - Jana Lang.

Birds of paradise are am ong the world's m ost known and fam ous bird species due t o t he oft en colourful and very except ional plum age of t he m ales. The sm all, up to m iddle sized passerine birds m ost ly live in the dense rain forests of New Guinea, but som e species can also be found on t he Maluku islands and in t he nort hern part of east Aust ralia. Due t o it s fam ous inhabit ant s New Guinea is also called t he `island of birds of paradise'. The nat ional em blem as well as t he flag of t he independent st at e of Papua New Guinea even show a bird of paradise!

I n t ot al 42 species are recognized in t he fam ily `Paradisaeidae' and t he m aj orit y of the m ales have iridescent and brightly coloured plum age on their back, breast and tail feathers. During courtship the shining colours and feathers are presented t o a fem ale at special `leks', or wit hin t he t errit ory of a cert ain fem ale. Therefore, the m ales of m any species clear the ground or branches from foliage to be able to better draw attention to them selves. Most species are polygynous, m eaning that a m ale m ates with m ult iple fem ales, which are rather dully coloured with t heir brown- yellow plum age t o blend in wit h t heir habit at . They alone care for t he incubat ion of the eggs and the rearing of t he young without the help of the m ale.

From t rading expedit ions in t he ear ly sixt eent h cent ury only t he foot less and wingless skins were known in Europe. Therefore, t he represent at ives of t his bird

group were soon called `divine birds' or `paradise birds' as they were thought that t hey do not need wings at all. The skins led t o t he belief t hat t he birds never landed on earth before their death but were kept permanently aloft by the plum es. Unt il t he 18t h cent ury t hese st ories were st ill believed t o be t rue due t o the lack of inform at ion about birds of paradise from the wild.

Welt vogelpark Walsrode keeps som e species of t hese fam ous birds of paradise. One of t he larger ones is t he t welve- wired Bir d of Paradise ( Seleucidis m elanoleuca) which inhabit s rain and swam py forest s in low lands of New Guinea and t he west ern Papuan I slands. I t feeds on fruit s, especially t he fruit s of t he pandanus or sago palm , but nectar, insects, frogs or lizards are also eaten. Twelve- wired birds of paradise can be very acrobat ic while feeding ? t hey can even hang upside down from branches to investigate holes in the wood for insect s. The m ales of t his species are known for t heir conspicuous black- olive coloured head and wing plum es as well as their bright ly yellow plum es on their breast and flanks. The t ail feat hers, t welve blackish wire- like filam ent s, em erge at the rear of the plum age and can be m oved independent ly during courtship.

This species is polygynous and in t he wild a single m ale m at es wit h several fem ales. To im press a fem ale, m ales display on t radit ional, m ost ly dead vert ical branches freed from leaves which t ower above t he t reet ops. These t ypical branches are even defended from ot her m ales. Upon arrival of a fem ale, t he m ale m oves his wings, the yellow plum es on his flanks, and the t welve elongated tail feathers while j um ping up and down on his branch and singing to im press the fem ale.

This species can be seen in a zoological inst it ut ion in Europe only in Weltvogelpark Walsrode. I n the year 2008 Walsrode received a m ale twelvewired bird of paradise, called `Van Dyke', from Bronx Zoo in New York ? nowadays already over 30 years of age! I t was believed that this bird can be shown in the exhibit ion to the visitors but is not for breeding purposes anym ore ? but all were wrong! Despite the high age of the m ale, our fem ale laid the first fertilized eggs in 2012, after being relocated to another enclosure in the rainforest hall! Since Sept em ber 2012, a t ot al of 7 chicks were already successfully hand reared.

I n the wild, a fem ale builds a shallow egg-cup shaped nest of sm all branches and leaves inside the bulky deep structure of pandanus bark and vines, which is padded with root lets and plant fibres. I t is m ostly placed in palm trees up to 14 m above the ground. Norm ally, one egg, rarely two eggs are laid. After the incubat ion period of approxim at ely 20 days t he chick hat ches. Three weeks lat er the nestling already leaves the nest.

Our fem ale m ade a nest by herself out of coconut fibres, t wigs and leaves in her enclosure in our rainforest hall. The pair is housed in a large aviary, but t he m ale was always very interested in the nest and the fem ale, and he destroyed the first eggs that were laid by the female.

To m ake sure t hat no m ore eggs of t his rarely kept bird species would get lost , all eggs laid by t he fem ale were now t ransferred int o an art ificial incubat or. This way we could secure t he eggs and rear 7 young birds successfully! Due t o t he fact that this species is so rare in zoological inst itut ions it was very im portant for us to secure offspring, and ( unfortunately) artificial incubat ion was the best way to do this.

The next egg t hat our fem ale laid was t hus t ransferred t o an art ificial incubat or. The egg was exchanged wit h a dum m y egg, so t he fem ale could cont inue incubat ion. Meanwhile the real egg was artificially incubated at 37,4 ? C and a hum idity of 55 % unt il it hatched. Candling t he egg aft er approxim at ely one week can quickly reveal if t he egg is fert ilized or not . This procedure was used on all eggs t hat were laid aft erwards. After hatching all nestlings are transferred into the care of the hand rearing keepers, t he vet and t he biologist of Welt vogelpark. They are placed int o a st eel bowl padded with paper towels, an ant i- slide- m at, coconut fibres or wood wool and housed in a closed and heated rearing m achine.

Direct ly aft er hatching, w it h egg shell ~ 3 days old.

8 Days old ~ Being fed.

On t he first day, when t he yolk in t he belly is st ill being digest ed, a chick is only provided with a m ixture of water and a ringer- lactat e- solution. After approxim ately 35 hours the feeding starts, beginning at half past 5 in the m orning unt il 11 o'clock in the evening. I n total the chick is fed 9 ? 10 t im es per day ? every two hours, which keeps the keepers very busy! I n the beginning in Weltvogelpark the food consisted of the innards of one- day- old m ice enriched wit h lact obacilli t o support and st im ulat e t he digest ion. On t he 5th day of age t he

food is already further enriched with m ore vitam ins and sm all portions of lowiron pellets, which are especially designed for fruit eaters and contain a high am ount of proteins.

10 days old, being fed ~ 13 days old.

From day 9 onwards, peeled blueberries are fed as well. The one- day old m ice are now fed as a m ash. Around the 15th day of age the food is expanded with T20 Nut riBird Pellet s for fruit eat ers from Versele- Laga: rich in prot eins, vit am ins and m inerals as well. At this m om ent the eyes of the nestling are already open and the young is very attentive. Shortly afterwards the feathers break open and soon the nestling is entirely fletched. I n the whole growth period the tem perature in the rearing m achine has to m atch the needs and the growth of the chick. Beginning with 37,2 ? C the tem perature is slowly regulated downwards and always adj ust ed t o the growt h of t he young. On day 14 t he t em perat ure has been lowered t o 35 ? C. I n cont rast t o t he t em perat ure, t he weight of t he nest ling is of course rising ? t iny in the beginning, t he chick is already weighing 21,5 g on day 6, 51 g on day 11 and on the 13th day of age it is already weighing 63 g.

16 days old ~ 17 days old

Short ly before fledging t he weight has risen up t o 108 g. On t he 25 day of age young twelve- wired birds of paradise leave the nest, now approxim ately weighing 119 g. The art ificial nest is placed in a rearing box a few days earlier so t hat t he young can becom e accustom ed t o t he surrounding. The box is only

heated by an infrared lamp and is furnished with natural branches and twigs. During the night, it is st ill placed back into the heated incubator unt il it fledges.

Left: 1 8 days old, still being fed.

Right: 25 days old and fledged. Below : 4 5 days old, in the aviary.

Soon after fledging t he chick is already very act ive and vivid. I t is preening itself and closely observing the surrounding. At this stage the young bird needs m uch more energy than before and thus the am ount of food has to be increased and fed to the young with a tweezer every hour. Addit ionally, a plat e with a m ixture of different fruit s and T20 pellet s from Versele- Laga is placed int o t he box so t he fledged young gets to know the food.

Below : 2 m onths old.

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