Latest news with #PalomaBosso
Miami Herald
19-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Rare chicks ‘once shrouded in mystery' hatched in Brazil. See ‘blue-eyed' babies
In 2015, an ornithologist conducting field work in Brazil heard a sound he hadn't heard before. It was the call of a bird, and hoping to identify it, Rafael Bessa recorded the sound and played it back. Then, a blue-eyed ground dove appeared for the first time in more than 70 years, according to the American Bird Conservancy. In the years since the rare bird's rediscovery, researchers and wildlife officials have been working across the globe to try and protect the critically endangered species. From the Chester Zoo in the United Kingdom, bird experts flew to Brazil to help the species take another step forward. 'Conservationists are celebrating the successful hand-rearing of a trio of blue-eyed ground doves (Columbina cyanopis), a rare species found only in Brazil,' the Chester Zoo said in a June 18 news release. 'With fewer than 11 adults left in the wild, the successful breeding of these chicks brings hope for the future of the species.' Researchers are learning more about the species 'once shrouded in mystery,' the zoo said, as well as what has been threatening their population. A team selected a few wild-laid eggs to try and incubate in a 'specially designed breeding facility' to provide 'around-the-clock care and attention' to the 'tiny and delicate birds,' according to the release and a June 18 Facebook post. 'The hope is that once the blue-eyed ground doves reach maturity, they'll begin breeding in their specially designed aviaries at Parque das Aves, growing the insurance population for the species,' the zoo said. 'The long-term vision is to build a strong, self-sustaining population that will help secure the future of the blue-eyed ground dove in the wild.' The species was once plentiful in Brazil's savanna, or Cerrado, until farming and timber plantations took over the landscape, according to the zoo. Today, the species is only found in Botumirim, Minas Gerais, in east-central Brazil, the zoo said. Blue-eyed ground doves are known for their cinnamon-colored feathers and their vibrant blue eyes, matched by blue spots on their wings, according to the American Bird Conservancy. The doves eat seeds and small insects found living in the soil, the conservancy said, and relies on native grass species to provide a habitat for its prey. Their population is also near freshwater and has been seen foraging in the shallows for food. 'Seeing these chicks is exciting. Each hatching represents a real chance to reverse the fate of this species. It is a joy and also a great responsibility. With the arrival of these three new individuals, Parque das Aves is now home to six blue-eyed ground doves. All are being carefully monitored and are part of a coordinated reproductive management plan,' Paloma Bosso, technical director of Parque das Aves, said in the release. Chester Zoo is in Chester, in west-central England. The Parque das Aves is in southwestern Brazil, near the borders with Paraguay and Argentina.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Blue-eyed ground dove: Three chicks hatch from one of the world's rarest bird species
Conservationists say there is new hope for one of the world's rarest bird species, after three chicks hatched as part of a breeding are thought to be just 11 adult blue-eyed ground doves in the wild, so experts from the UK, Brazil and the US have teamed up to try and save the species from Bosso, is the technical director of Parque das Aves, the bird sanctuary in Brazil where the new chicks said: "Seeing these chicks is exciting. Each hatching represents a real chance to reverse the fate of this species. It is a joy and also a great responsibility." Experts say the species, which is only found in Brazil, is quite a mysterious more than 70 years there were no confirmed sightings, that is until 2015 when it was to the IUCN Red List the species is critically endangered, its numbers are said to have declined due to habitat loss driven by farming and timber try and help save the species, a team of Brazilian and international bird conservationists - including some from Chester Zoo in the UK - started to incubate a number of eggs that were laid in the wild to create a population in human care. Conservationists say the arrival of the three chicks has boosted the survival odds of the are currently being hand-reared by a team of experts at the sanctuary in Owen, who is the head of birds at Chester Zoo, travelled to Brazil to help with the says "the long term aim is to have a viable insurance population" that can help to reinforce numbers in the is also taking place to maintain habitats in the Cerrado, which is an area of tropical savanna in Brazil, so that the birds in human care can eventually be released and boost the wild population.
