Wild birds take flight

As well as looking after our endangered species, eagle-eyed keepers have been keeping watch on wild birds born at the zoo.

Staff have seen robins, blue tits and a greater spotted woodpecker nesting on site and observed that young chicks have recently fledged their nests.

Senior Keeper Jodie Dryden filmed a greater spotted woodpecker (like the one pictured here during our last bird ringing event) flying to a nesting hole in a tree between our spider monkey enclosure and Flamingo Falls.

The brief footage, complete with beautiful birdsong, has been slowed down to make it easier to see the striking woodpecker visiting the nest.

And staff operating our vintage chair lift have seen robins leaving a nest in the eaves of the ride’s lower ground canopy.

Conservation Officer Chris Leeson, who has also spotted blue tits using nesting boxes we’ve put up at the back of the Discovery Centre and by the Reptile House, said it was wonderful to see several native species of birds making a home at Dudley Zoo.

He said: “We have plenty of bird feeders on site and always look out for our visiting feathered friends, especially in the colder months. It’s nice to tell our visitors about our native species as well as the more exotic ones.”