Recent News
BZS Dedicate Section Of Land To Argus GroupThursday, November 15, 2012
Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] today announces that it has dedicated a waterfront section of land at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo [BAMZ] to the Argus Group in recognition of the insurance company’s ongoing support.
Bermuda turtle ‘Tucker’ reaches the Bahamas
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The turtle was one of five caught in the ocean around Bermuda and fitted with GPS tracking tags before becoming involved in the Tour de Turtles research project which started in August. The Tour de Turtles ‘race’ ended on Monday.
A luxurious spa treatment for some special residents - free of charge!
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Kermit the Frog famously said: ‘It ain’t easy being green.’ Green sea turtles at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo would probably agree.
‘Tucker’ the green turtle heads to Florida
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Swimming around Bermuda wasn’t enough for one of the five tagged turtles in the ‘Tour De Turtles’ research programme — instead it has embarked on an epic swim to Florida.
Darth Vader takes a shine to Kate
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24: A volunteer at the Bermuda Aquarium was adopted by a 70 pound grouper dubbed Darth Vader.
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Latest News
All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!
By Sara Westhead
There has been a lot of excitement in the Zoo over the past few months with the birth of three Tawny Frogmouth chicks.
The threesome are the offspring of Kermit and Duane, who have resided in the Australasia exhibit for the last one and a half years, having arrived in October, 2013.
Natives of Australia and Tasmania, Tawny Frogmouths are most closely related to oilbirds and nightjars. They are carnivorous, dieting mostly on nocturnal insects, as well as small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. They do much of their hunting at dusk.
In the wild, they typically breed from August to December, however, because Bermuda is located in a different hemisphere, this has been reversed to January through May. They typically form partnerships for life and will take turns incubating eggs on the nest, rarely leaving the nest unattended.
The first two chicks hatched from BAMZ residents
Kermit and Duane. Photos by S. Westhead
What makes these chicks particularly special is that Kermit, our male, has not previously been genetically represented in the tawny frogmouth population. His offspring are important as they will contribute to genetic diversity within the population that are in human care.
Also significant is the fact that Kermit is 18 years of age. In the wild, Tawny’s will usually live between 10 to 14 years, and in human care, there are only eight recorded males that have reproduced after the age of 17 years.
The oldest two chicks were born on March 21st, 2015 and March 28th, 2015, and are already on display in the Australasia exhibit, however they have been placed in an enclosure for their protection. The third chick was born on May 5th, 2015, and will hopefully be big enough to join its siblings in the near future.
The tawnies are a part of a Species Survival Protection breeding programme and the manager of that programme will recommend where the new chicks should be placed, in order to best maintain the breeding population. Those recommendations are generally issued annually, so for the next few months, they will still be calling BAMZ home.