Durban – There’s a whole box of bubblegum wrappers’ worth of “did you know?” facts to discover at the Umgeni Bird Park on the uMngeni River.
Whether it’s from what bird handler Ariel Schloms tells you during the daily demonstration, or just what you read on the information boards beside the aviaries, the average person is likely to leave there more informed about the feathered world.
Did you know that “to keep their feathers pink, flamingoes have to eat special foods?” states a signboard near the majestic creatures.
The pellets the park feeds them contain what’s needed to keep their colour, but in the past, zoos fed them salmon and carrots for this purpose.
Also, flamingo eggs have dark pink yolks and chicks are fed pink “milk” made in the throats of their parents.
Another “did you know?” relating to a far uglier bird – the Marabou stork – is that it can chase a vulture, causing it to throw up what it has eaten, which the stork gobbles up.
Another fact, Schloms reveals after introducing Samara, the resident Marabou, did you know… in the late 1800s they were hunted so that women could decorate their hair with feathers from its posterior area? Believe it or not.
“That region of the bird!” she remarks.
On the other side of the park from the display arena, where maribous are kept in a pen, is a another bit of interesting information.
Unlike so many other living creatures to whom humans are a threat, the Marabou stork “benefits from human interference and adapts to new areas easily”.
There is a pair of Blue cranes – South Africa’s national bird – in a pen directly below the cliffs. One is quite aggressive and would probably give you a peck if you got too close.
Did you know… its long tail feather was used by King Shaka as a head ornament?
Back at the display, a female Australian Laughing kookaburra that Schloms says was named Bruce before delivery, when the park did not know what sex it was, has a long, sharp beak to catch frogs, insects and snakes.
Did you know… it can swallow a 1m snake?
“I don’t know where it goes in that tiny body of hers,” says Schloms.
This Laughing kookaburra gets its name from the way thousands giggle away in the trees – at 4am – giving it the nickname of the bush man’s clock.
The smallest bird on display is “the weight of a Bar One chocolate” – 80 to 85g. The Perfect or Olive-headed lorikeet, from Indonesia, eats off 5 000 flowers a day in the wild. Did you know… its toes are specially designed so it can grip the trees as it hops about in the branches. Therefore it’s known as “the monkey of the jungle”.
The Umgeni Bird Park is open from 9am to 5pm. Call 031 579 4601.
Sunday Tribune