Kori Bustard News
The National Zoo is one of only a handful of zoos in the world breeding kori bustards, a species native to eastern and southern Africa.
These birds are declining throughout their range, and some populations have gone extinct. Causes for this decline include increasing agriculture and development, hunting pressure, the birds' low tolerance for human activity, and their inherently low reproductive rate. Reduced breeding activity in dry years compounds the problem.
Staff at the Zoo are working hard to understand the needs of kori bustards in zoos as well as contributing to field studies that advance the understanding of wild populations.
Updates about the Zoo's kori bustards from the kori keeper appear below.
Ask a kori question.July 25, 2008
Two more kori bustards have hatched: Tatu (Swahili for three—he is the third chick to hatch this year) and Tambo (Swahili for strength). Tatu hatched on July 18, Tambo on July 19.
July 14, 2008
Two kori bustards have hatched at the Zoo: Ema (June 28) and Chasi (June 29). Chasi is the 40th kori bustard chick to hatch at the National Zoo since our first kori hatched in 1997. They will be joined by two more siblings on about July 21. Stay tuned for more updates!
April 1, 2008
3 of the 4 kori bustard chicks born in 2007 have been shipped to other zoos as part of the SSP for koris. In late February, Rasi went to the Nashville Zoo. In late March, Pipe and Nadra went to the Phoenix Zoo. All the transfers went fine and the birds are now enjoying their new homes.
The female, Tuza, will stay at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for the near future. She is still too young and naive to be placed with the adult flock so she will stay in a pen at the back of the kori bustard yard through the summer where she is protected from the adults.
It is breeding season at the Zoo and aggression levels rise along with hormones. If placed with the adults, Tuza would not understand their behaviors and would be subject to high levels of aggression. In the protected pen, she can see the adult birds and watch them and learn their behaviors and personalities. She will be released into the flock in September when aggression levels subside.
With the departure of the males, it is time to start thinking of the upcoming breeding season and another batch of chicks. Stay tuned!
October 23, 2007
The kori bustard chicks are nearly four months old. Pipe, Nadra, and Rasi are boys: Tuza is the only girl. They are doing very well and growing strong. They still make baby sounds even though they are big chicks. In the wild, kori chicks remain with their mothers until they are nearly one year old. The chicks talk to mom using these baby sounds, which serve to let mom know everything is okay.
The three male chicks have new homes waiting for them although it will several months before they are shipped out. Tuza will move in with the adults in February. She is still too small to fend for herself in the yard with the adult koris.
October 12, 2007
In late August, the National Zoo donated a kori bustard egg to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas. Cameron Park Zoo has a male and a female kori bustard, but for some reason, the male has not been displaying for a few years, so they have not had any offspring. The egg we donated was the last egg of the season from our primary breeding female. Due to space limitations and with four chicks already on hand, Zoo staff could not keep this egg, so they decided to send it to another zoo with experience rearing kori bustards.
Staff from Cameron Park Zoo traveled to Washington, D.C., on August 22 to pick up the egg toward the end of its incubation period. This is the safest time to transport eggs because the embryo is nearly full grown and can withstand the journey safely. The egg was transported in a cooler that is kept warm with heat pads. A thermometer helps the caretaker monitor the internal temperature of the cooler, which needs to be maintained at 95 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit. The lid is opened when it gets too warm.
Cameron Park Zoo staff transported the egg to Texas on a commercial flight. The other passengers and airline staff were curious about the egg and wanted to know all about kori bustards. People made suggestions about what to name the chick. The egg arrived safe and sound at the zoo and hatched on August 27.
Staff named the chick Msafiri, which means traveler in Swahili. Keepers think the chick, now one and a half months old, is a female. The chick is doing well, and staff at Cameron Park Zoo are once again thrilled to be raising a kori bustard chick.
August 14, 2007
![[kori chick head closeup]](/Animals/Birds/NewsEvents/images/kori11.jpg)
Kori bustard chick © Nathan Rolls. Thanks to Nathan for this photo and the one in the upper left corner of the page.
Keepers moved the kori bustard chicks from their indoor enclosure to an outside holding pen on August 14. The chicks acclimated fairly quickly, considering it was the first time they had ever seen grass, dirt, sky, or things flying above them. They also have lots of new sounds to get used to, including some loud calls from the cranes and flamingos that are in the area. Fortunately, they have each other for reassurance and keepers visit them throughout the day to bring them tasty treats of insects and other food items.
August 6, 2007
The kori bustard chicks are growing fast! Pipe and Tuza are now nearly six weeks old. Nadra and Rasi are one month as of July 3 and 4, respectively. Based on size, it looks like Pipe is a male and Tuza is a female. We still don't know the sexes of Nadra and Rasi. The chicks will be moving to a new home in a few weeks. Right now, they are housed indoors in a holding pen. As soon as the carpenters finish building some new pens outside, the quartet will be moving to their new home. This is good news because it means they will have lots of room to run, jump, move about and catch tasty insects.
July 6, 2007
Two more chicks hatched, Nadra (Swahili for rare) and Rasi (Swahili for leader). The really cool thing about Nadra is that this chick is from a female that has never bred before—so this is her first chick! Hence the translated name "rare." All four chicks are together and doing just fine. They are ten-days apart in age.
June 25, 2007
We have two new residents at the Zoo: Pipe and Tuza (Swahili names), our two new kori bustards. They don't stay this cute for very long.
Pipe hatched June 23, and Tuza hatched June 24. We are expecting one or two more to hatch in early July. After the loss of Zazi and Tani last year, keepers are excited and happy to once again welcome new kori bustards to the Zoo.
April 16, 2007
Sadly, Tani and Zaza did not survive past their first birthdays. Both birds died rather suddenly and unexpectedly from what appears to be arterial hypertrophy with severe fibrinoid degeneration and multifocal myocardial degeneration. Both birds had enlarged hearts and exhibited multifocal muscle necrosis/degeneration. Hypertrophic lesions are similar to what might be expected with systemic hypertension. We do not know if there was a genetic component that may have predisposed these birds to this condition or if there were other factors at work. We have raised nearly 40 birds to adulthood with no problems.
Our female, Ume, continues to thrive and she does not appear to have any signs of the problems that took Zazi and Tani.
We are continuing our research on these wonderful birds to help ensure the species' survival, and will post updates on our progress from time to time.
February 13, 2007
A zoo biologist visited the Brookfield Zoo for training in EthoTrak—a digital system for collecting behavioral data within zoological institutions. EthoTrak will be used by the kori bustard SSP to collect behavioral data.
December 4, 2006
Our kori youngsters are now five months and three months old and doing great. The two older birds, Zazi and Tani, are both males. Earlier, we had thought that Tani was a female, but he has shot up in weight and is now a beautiful young male kori. Ume (three months old) is a female. As you can see in the picture to the left, the size difference between males and females is amazing even at this young age. This size difference will continue to become even more noticeable as the birds mature into adulthood. When they are full grown, males are more than twice the size of females.
At five months, Zazi and Tani are estimated to be about six kilograms (6000 grams). That's an amazing growth rate. Just five months ago they weighed in at a mere 100 grams! When they are fully grown in three years, Zazi and Tani will weigh between 12 and 18 kilograms. Ume is currently about 2.5 kilograms. She will eventually weigh in at six to seven kilograms.
Because of the age difference between the chicks, we are unable to keep them together. Zazi and Tani, while interested in Ume, display some mild aggression towards her through the fence at times. Their incredible size and power could prove very dangerous to Ume if we were to put them together. However, they can all see each other through the fence and are able to socialize with each other.
The males have incredible appetites. For breakfast, they each consume six large mice and several "meatballs" (beef mixed with avian pellets). Their midday meal varies, but typically consists of eggs, fruit, greens and insects. They are fed six mice each again in the late afternoon along with more meatballs. Ume eats less and is a pickier eater, but she manages to put away about ten small mice a day in addition to other food items.
August 29, 2006
The chicks are now two months old. Looks like we have a male (Zazi) and a female (Tani). They have been moved to an outside exhibit that is not on public view where they have more room to grow and run around.
July 26, 2006
The chicks are doing well. They both weigh about 700 grams (25 ounces). We won't know the sexes for a few more weeks.
July 10, 2006
Two chicks hatched in early July. Zazi (Swahili for fertile) and Tani (Swahili for friendly) are being hand-reared by bird house staff. Because these chicks come from a well-represented genetic line, the Species Survival Plan has determined that they will be sent overseas to help the zoo kori bustard population in Europe.
The National Zoo has been breeding kori bustards since 1997. Since that time, nearly 30 chicks have been born. Many now reside at zoos throughout the United States. The population of kori bustards in the United States numbers 66 birds in 20 facilities with additional zoos looking to exhibit the species.
The male continues performing his elaborate courtship display in hopes of attracting a female.
As we have in the past, we are using the telemetric egg to collect data on incubation temperature and turning frequency.
more
February 23, 2005
The two kori bustard juveniles that hatched in 2004 were shipped to the Living Desert Museum in California as part of the 2005 Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendations. We have received a new female kori bustard from the St. Catherine's facility in Georgia. By the end of April 2005 she will join our flock.
August 30, 2004
Watch the baby bustards grow in this slide show (four slides).
July 21, 2004
Staff at the Bird House are recording incubation information from a "telemetric" egg.
This is electronic "dummy" egg is put under the bird and records incubation temperature and the rate of turning.
The data are sent from the egg to a receiver/data logger and recorded on each egg every few seconds for 24 hours a day.
Currently, two kori bustard females are each sitting on one of these eggs. This is the second clutch with the fake egg for each of them. This cutting-edge technology will hopefully deliver information that will help us improve artificial incubation parameters in kori bustards.
