Birds, Birds , Birds As we entered the Australasia section of birds, Dave explained to us that it can be difficult to get the plant material in an enclosure to match the birds' natural habitats, but the keepers still strive to find plants to match a bird's native geography. The keepers also create a more natural environment for the birds by placing fresh boughs into their enclosures. The plant boughs are used by the birds for a number of things. The great blue turaco likes the extra boughs because one-third of its diet consists of leaves, and the boughs provide extra food. Some birds enjoy the protection that plants provide, such as the shy Micronesian kingfisher who remained hidden behind the plants in his enclosure, sometimes letting out little cries of nervousness when we got too close.
Plants are also useful as nesting materials for most birds.
Larger birds need more nesting material, such as the Stellar's sea eagle. The Stellar's sea eagles are from northeast Asia, north China and Japan. They use pine trees and other nesting materials that keepers toss in their enclosures to build nests up to eight feet across and ten feet deep. Beware of Cassowaries My favorite part of our tour of the Zoo's birds was getting a chance to see a cassowary. Cassowaries are one of four species within a group of large, flightless birds.