For the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to visit several zoological and private bird collections in Europe. These visits are rich in new ideas and perspectives, and bring tremendous value to our own aviaries and birds. There is always something to learn by visiting colleagues, and gaining an understanding of what goes into making their collections successful and sustainable.
Zoo Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany played host to the annual EAZA Conference this year. Zoo Leipzig is a beautiful zoo, which has some of the largest zoological exhibits in the world, such as Gondwanaland, which is an incredible 4.1 acres indoor rainforest. I was thrilled to be able to offer a presentation on our sea duck experiences in Louisiana as well as attend other presentations about different bird programs affiliated with EAZA, such as their managed waterfowl programs, a private aviary building project for scaly-sided mergansers and red-crowned cranes, and a great veterinary talk on the ongoing effects of Usutu virus, similar to West Nile virus, on population of birds both in the wild and in aviaries in Europe. Additionally, there were important talks on field conservation projects such as the Madagascar pochard and blue-eyed ground dove restoration efforts.
I then headed to Seewiesen, Germany for a follow up visit to the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence to discuss our ongoing efforts with ruff. We discussed our husbandry practices, incubation, hand-rearing, nutrition, and more. We still face many challenges with our ruff and look forward to an improved 2025 season with this fascinating species.
My next visit was Wilhelmina Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. This historical zoo and botanical garden was once the palace of the Dukes and Kings of Württemberg before becoming a garden open to public visitation. What a beautiful zoo this was! Such immaculate gardens and exhibits. The personal highlight was seeing some recent exports of Pinola raised birds to Wilhelma, a pair each of cotton pygmy and African pygmy-goose, in some lovely exhibits which I expect they will thrive!
Next up was a visit to the amazing personal collection of Gotz Kuebler in Heilbronn, Germany. Gotz is a wealth of knowledge and has built an impressive array of aviaries filled with very important birds, all of which he cares for personally while still managing a successful business. He is very generous with his limited time and years of experience and I always come away from speaking to Gotz with new ideas and a greater appreciation of what he has managed to accomplish. Gotz has consistent success breeding some very rare species in aviculture and there is much to learn from a visit to his aviaries.
Next on the agenda was a visit to the lovely Antwerp Zoo, one of the oldest zoological collections in the entire world, in Belgium. I was excited to view their ruff aviary, as Antwerp has a successful breeding flock. I was given a great tour by two of their keepers, and they answered every question in great detail. I was able to view the aviary, incubation room, commissary, and more. Additionally, I was able to study how the zoo keeps Eurasian hoopoe, a species which is coming soon to Pinola, and learn more details about their husbandry.
From Antwerp, I made the drive to Rutten, Netherlands to visit the private collection of Rene De Velde Harsenhorst. Rene is a longtime aviculturist and specialist breeder with a focus on shorebirds. Again, I was excited to see his ruff aviary and learn from his experiences. His aviaries were curated to the specific needs of wading birds, and they were beautiful. Getting to view is incubation and rearing areas were a real treat and I was able to absorb quite a bit of techniques I look forward to trying here at Pinola. He and his wife, Roelie, were great hosts, and I enjoyed our conversations over several cups of coffee while reviewing his 2024 season.
I finished the trip with several days at Weltvogelpark Walsrode, one of the most incredible collections of birds in the entire world. While not my first visit, I always feel like it is whenever I walk through the grounds. Walsrode has many accolades in breeding and are specialists in incubation. Their techniques are innovative and those techniques were instrumental in the success Pinola had with incubating and hatching Steller’s eiders, 17 in total, this year. To see some of Pinola’s birds (cotton pygmy goose and Hartlaub’s duck) in Walsrode’s aviaries brings a great sense of pride. What an honor!
