Over the last several weeks, we have been providing glimpses into our flock of ruff (Calidris pugnax) here at Pinola via a number of individual photographs posted here and on other platforms. Ruff are one of the most fascinating organisms in the world and have long been studied for their incredible behaviors and unique beauty. The ruff has become one of our species of focus here at Pinola. Through immense efforts of importing new birds over the past year from our colleagues in several EU member states, we have amassed a large and diverse flock of birds with an excellent representation of genetic morphology (each of our birds are individually tested for morphology) and plumage variations. With new birds came new aviaries and increased opportunities to curate the flock in manners to best produce desired outcomes in our breeding efforts and for behavioral observations within a lek.
Today, we would like to formally invite you to join us in watching our leks in real time via new live stream cameras on our website, https://www.pinola.org/live-streams/ as well as viewing or new ruff gallery, with depictions and descriptions of behaviors, https://www.pinola.org/ruff/
As I write this, we are right in the middle of peak lek activity, with fights (pugnax=pugnacious) and displays galore! Our cameras stream 24-7, so you can watch this behavior anytime. Trust me, at this point, there is something to see at all points in the day! Nesting and egg production are also in full swing, as we currently have many active nests, which are inconspicuous in the aviary grasses and require tedious, careful, and observant searching to find. Eggs are collected and artificially incubated, as we work towards developing best practices for artificial incubation and hand-rearing of chicks, with a long-term goal of providing genetically diverse flocks of ruff to other zoological institutions in North America.
We hope you find the same joy and fascination in watching these wonderful birds and their antics on our cameras as we do while caring for them. Enjoy the show!
