Recent News

LOM gives away $25,000 to mark 25 years
Monday, January 29, 2018

LOM Financial gave away $25,000 to charity at an event to mark its 25th anniversary.


Flying visit for rare bird
Monday, January 22, 2018

One of the largest plunge divers in the world made a rare and spectacular appearance off the North Shore.


Island ponds given overhaul by BZS
Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Two ponds have been cleaned up courtesy of an island conservation programme.


Cahow breeding season set to break records
Monday, January 15, 2018

This year’s cahow breeding season could be a record breaker, experts predicted yesterday.


“Andy” Is Now The Longest Tracked Tiger Shark
Friday, January 12, 2018

Andy — a tiger shark tagged in Bermuda by scientists from Nova Southeastern University’s [NSU] Guy Harvey Research Institute [GHRI] in 2014 — is now the longest tracked tiger shark on record.



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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!

Breeding Success! Tawny Frogmouth Chicks
Bermuda Zoological Society
Wednesday, July 01, 2015

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.

BZS_150707_9a.jpg
The first two chicks hatched from BAMZ residents
Kermit and Duane.
 Photos by S. Westhead

BZS_150701_9b.jpg

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.