S. M. Garver - Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens - Jacksonville, Florida
Page 6 of 13

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The birds on this page were free to roam, fly, and swim in the River Valley Aviary. Zoo visitors access the aviary by means of a double set of doors. After walking through the first set of doors you are to let them close before opening the inner set of doors so as to keep the birds inside.

Abdim's stork
[A stork with glossy black plumage and a greyish-colored beak which is slightly open.]

These two Abdim's storks were having a nice chit-chat as they appeared to be people-watching from atop the structure which housed the doors to the exhibit.
[The head and neck of two storks who both have their bills open and are slightly turned toward each other. The dark feathers on their head and neck have a hair-like appearance. Their faces have no feathers and are a light-grey color which leads to their long pointy orange-yellow bills.]

Abdim's stork doing the flasher pose to have the sun help kill unwanted feather vermin.

Yellow-billed stork (This legs-bent-forward position is normal resting position for storks.)
[A white stork with black under feathers sits on the ground with its pink legs. It has a pink patch around its eyes adjacent to the all yellow bill.]

Yellow-billed stork has pink undersections.
[The stork has the wing on the right opened and its bill is preening white feathers on its body. Although the underside of wing is mostly black feathers, the upper white section has strips of pinkish-purple.]

Two yellow-billed stork juveniles at two different levels of maturity
[Two photos spliced together with one stork juvenile in each. The younger stork is on the left. It has a pale yellow bill with a light colored eye and light greyish-white feathers on its head, neck, and body. The juvenile on the right has the red section of its head although the top of its head still has fluffy down feathers on it. The feathers on its back are more white than grey.]

Yellow-billed storks have their nests in trees. (Tree is leafless in January.)
[There are two storks in the leafless tree. Stork on the right is bent toward its nest exposing the underside of its rear, a vision of black, white, and pink feathers, to the camera. The stork on the left has its right side to the camera and seems to be watching the photographer as it bends toward its nest.]

Crested screamer
[This mostly grey bird has both a wide black ring and a thinner white ring (coloring) on its neck. The bird's legs, feet, and part of its face are pinkish. It has a few feather on the back of its head sticking out which is probably why it has 'crested' in its name. This bird is about the same size as the stork, so it's a large bird.]

A few months later the crested screamers were incubating the next generation.
[One crested screamer stands on a twiggy nest on the ground near the water with three white eggs between its feet. The head is bent forward as the bird had been adjusting the eggs.]

African spoonbills (The only way to reach that spot is to get the help of a friend.)
[One spoonbill is scratching the back of another using its bill. The bills on these birds are round at the tip like a spoon and are grey. The area around the eyes and its legs are pink. The rest of the bird is all white.]

The resting pose hides the large bill.
[The spoonbill has its head turned toward its back and its bill is completely hidden in its feathers. It's resting on its knees and the bottom half of its legs.]

African spoonbills are building at least four nests in this tree. (Tree is leafless in January.)
[A tree with many branches has at least seven spoonbills in the tree. Some are near the four visible nests while others may be plucking small branches to build the nests.]

African spoonbills nest with four eggs and the two parents (with one incubating the eggs)
[Two photos spliced together. On the left is a close view of four white eggs amid a very twiggy nest. On the right one spoonbill sits on the the nest on the ground facing away from the other spoonbill standing on a rock beside the nest fluffing its feathers with its bill.]

Hadada ibis

Hamerkop
[This is an all-brown bird with a black bill and black legs and feet. The head sits on the body with no visible neck. This is a medium size bird which only stands about a foot tall.]

Northern bald ibis
[The long bill of the bird is hidden beneath an outstretched as the bird preens. Its reddish-tan head is devoid of feathers which is a great contrast to the long full feathers on the back of its head and down its neck. The feathers of this bird are greenish-purple and irridescent.]

Another northern bald ibis
[The bird's long curved red bill points to the right side of the image. Its yellow eyes with a black center stick out from its head. The feathers on its head start half-way down the back; the rest of the head is feather-free. The image is of the head and upper torso of the bird.]

White-faced whistling duck with its interesting bill coloring
[The duck sits on the ground with its head and right side visible to the camera. The bill is a near black except for the tip which has grey patches. While its top feathers are solid brown, the underside feathers are brown and white stripes. The front half of the head which includes the eye is white (the eye is dark) while the rest of the head is black.]

Mandarin duck (mating plumage on left and eclipse plumage on right)

A male North American ruddy duck
[The duck stands on grating near water. It has a light-blue bill, a head which is white on the bottom half and black on the top half, and the rest of the body including its webbed feet are brown.]

The tail-feathers on this female ruddy duck are vertical.
[The duck swims from right to left with its head turned toward the camera. Her beak is shades of brown as is the rest of her body except for the tail feathers. The appear to be black and stick in the air almost at a right angle to the water.]

Marbled teals
[Three duck-like birds stand on a high spot between two sections of water. These brown birds have white sections on their feathers which resemble dots when they stand with their wings folded. One bird is drinking water with its dark brown-bill. A second bird has its bill tucked under a wing. The third bird faces the direction opposite the other two.]

White-winged wood duck (The speckles all over its head and beak are the natural coloring of this duck.)
[The duck sleeps on the ground. Its body is mostly brown, but there are patches of white feathers. Its head is all white with black specks that look like it is infected with large mites or some other bug. Its beak is yellow with the same type of dark specks as on the head.]

Kenya crested guineafowl
[This black bird with white dots all over its feathers is in a tree looking down at the camera. Its head is grey and red with a black crown of feathers sticking from it. Its light-colored bill is open.]

This interloper in the River Valley aviary knew it wasn't supposed to be eating the birds' food. As I neared it, it jumped out of the bowl. It then ran back to the bowl when I moved away from the bowl.
[A squirrel, inside a mostly empty green dish, holds a pellet of food between its paws.]

Continue to more aviary birds. (page 7 of 13)

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