The caller’s description of the bird with the “broken beak” at the Toronto Zoo was so bad I didn’t recognize the species… and I am a bird expert, after all. So, last week, I decided to look.
The zoo, Canada’s largest, features biogeographically themed “pavilions.” The bird was in “The Americas,” which covers the western hemisphere. The first room is a plant-filled walk-through greenhouse-aviary containing a few species of neotropical birds. High humidity simulates some lowland tropical conditions.
I found the bird immediately – a sunbittern, remembered from previous visits. The tip of the upper beak is broken off, but that is no impediment to the bird’s apparent comfort or feeding, although a bit of ragged plumage suggests preening might be slightly hampered. The transition from cold winter air into warm humidity fogged my camera lens. I’d have to wait before taking pictures.
The sunbittern stood on a steel support beam just inside the front entrance to the pavilion, about ten feet up. I stood to the side of the central path to let visitors pass and decided to conduct a bit of an experiment. As people entered, I stared directly at the bird and pointed, or nodded, toward it. If I didn’t, no one noticed the bird, even though it was in plain sight. People would look up, sometimes say something like “look at the bird,” and move on. I decided to clock the length of time people spent looking at the bird. I did this just over 35 times, ignoring infants but including kids and adults. Average time spent looking at the sunbittern was between half a second and a full second. The longest time was about two seconds; the shortest, a mere glance.
At the entry to the rest of the pavilion, another sunbittern, beak intact, stood about three feet from passersby, unnoticed by any of them! There was also a sign, with a picture, telling you the English, French, and scientific name of the bird. And, that’s all!
I could write several dozen blogs this length telling you information about these incredible and lovely animals, although, as an artist who specializes in painting birds, I’d ask you to first note the incredibly intricate pattering of their plumage, so cryptic that in the wild, or even three feet from the path amid potted plants, they can be difficult to see. They have an amazing “defence display” whereby, when threatened, they fan their wings revealing hitherto hidden “eye” patterns.
Amazingly, their nearest relative seems to be the kagu a bizarre, flightless, critically endangered bird found only on New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, west of Australia. It is pale grayish, but has a similar wing display.
The zoo community forever touts the “educational” value of zoos, and yet there is nothing in the display about what a sunbittern eats, its exact range and habitat, wing display, breeding, or anything else. You can see its beauty, but not, I fear, in a half a second.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry