Birdland pays homage to the best bird mums (From Cotswold Journal)

Birdland pays homage to the best bird mums

1:08pm Wednesday 6th March 2013 in News By Freya Leng

POPULAR Cotswold attraction is paying homage to some of its best bird mums during a weekend of Mother’s Day celebrations.

This time of year residents are starting to lay and sit on eggs and their progress is closely monitored by the bird-keeping team at Birdland in Bourton.

Alistair Keen, head keeper, said: “In fact in some cases it’s the males that actually do most of the hard work when it comes to looking after the babies.

“The Rhea male has a harem of females laying eggs into his nest. He will then incubate for 40 or so days and be responsible for protecting the chicks.

“The King Penguin parents share incubation of their single egg – taking it in turns to keep the egg warm on top of their feet.”

The team are currently watching carefully two Humboldt penguin eggs which are due to hatch around the end of March along with four Black Necked Swan eggs.

Bird mum facts

• Burrowing Owls burrow underground where several eggs will be laid, away from prying eyes
• The Flamingos build a nest cone of mud up to a foot high to protect their single egg from flooding
• Pigeons build a flimsy nest on a platform of twigs and lay two eggs