Recent News

Students bring festive delight to Aquarium
Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Their mission was to put a smile on children’s faces.


Support For Ocean Tech Continues To Grow
Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Support for Ocean Tech’s first mission in Bermuda continues to grow, with Bermuda International Shipping Ltd. [BISL] joining with PwC, The Atlantic Conservation Partnership and Henrik Schroder from iTDNA as a sponsor of the Ocean Tech project.


BAMZ attraction Darth Vader dies
Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Darth Vader, a grouper at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo known for his affection for belly rubs, has died.


Neil Burnie charity aims to build on success
Tuesday, November 29, 2016

In less than 20 months the Neil Burnie Foundation has helped middle school students get their first taste of the open water, funded the tracking of turtles and provided vital financial support for Dr Burnie’s own Bermuda Shark Project.


Shipping firm backs marine research project
Saturday, November 26, 2016

A Bermudian shipping firm has thrown its support behind a groundbreaking scientific research project to track and film marine life.



About

Governance
About Us
Newsletter
Latest News
Gift & Bookstore

Contact

General Inquiries

(441) 293-2727

info@bzs.bm


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.