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Take a quick visit here to the Lowry Zoo

See some of the animals at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida
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    Duyvenbode's Lory Or Brown Lory
scientific name
    Chalcopsitta duivenbodei duivenbodei
size
    Weight: 7-8 oz
    Length. 12 in
    Wing: 6.7 - 7in
    Tail: 4.5 - 5.4 in
    Beak: 0.75- 0.9 in

    Male often larger with larger beak and head.
characteristics
    Color: generally dark brown
    Head: forehead yellow blending to grayish-brown • hint of violet on hind-crown and nape • lower back and rump violet-blue
    Throat: yellow blending to grayish-brown
    Breast: blackish brown on upper portion
    Wings: bend of wing and front edge bright yellow • wing brown with violet sheen • thighs orange-yellow
    Undertail: dark violet and olive
    Uppertail: olive-yellow
    Legs: gray-black
    Eye: iris dark reddish-brown • Same coloration in both sexes

    Behavour: Frequent mid- to upper stories up to 540 ft. • Reported to congregate in flocks on flowering trees with other species • Seen most often flying in pairs or groups of 6-8 • Roost socially • Vocalization: harsh, slightly musical notes with various hissing and screeching calls.

reproduction/life span

    Little known from the wild • breeds perhaps in April • In captivity: two eggs • incubation about 25 days • parents take turns brooding • young fledge at about 74 days

diet
    Wild: No information available
    Zoo: 30% nectar, 30% fruit & vegetables (kale, grapes, apples, cantaloupe etc�), 30% bird of paradise pellets, 10% plants flowers and other novelty items.

habitat/range
    Habitat: Lowlands up to 216 ft. in humid and alluvial forests; in tall secondary growth; along forest margins and in coastal clearings
    Range: Northern New Guinea.
    Green-Naped Lorikeet

scientific name
    Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus

size
    Length. 10 in
    Wing: 5.3 - 5.9in
    Tail: 3.6 - 4.6 in
    Bill: 0.75- 0.9 in
    Weight: 4.5 - 5oz 

characteristics

    Head: dark-bluish-violet with lighter blue streaking on the forecrown and greenish streaking on the rear-crown
    Breast: bright reddish-orange barred dark blue
    Belly: dark green
    Thighs: barred green and yellow
    Nape: bright yellowish-green
    Back and Wings: bright green • wing primaries tipped blackish
    Underwing: orange-red and yellow
    Uppertail: green
    Undertail: grayish-green with yellow
    Beak: orange-red
    Eye: iris orange-red
    Legs: gray

    Behaviour: Form flocks of 20 birds or fewer or in pairs • Frequently in mixed flocks with other parrots • Form communal roost at night with hundreds of birds • Vocalization: sharp rolling screech at regular intervals in flight, shrill chattering while feeding, soft twittering at rest, loud clear musical call.

reproduction/life span

    Nest in isolated pairs in high, unlined tree hollow • courtship display includes wing fluttering to reveal under wing pattern, swing upside-down, head-bobbing, tail-fanning and bill-fencing • 2-3 eggs• incubation 22-24 days • fledging 7-8 weeks • breeding recorded in most months.

diet

    Wild: Mainly nectar and pollen but also fruit such as figs, citrus, papaya and mangos opened by fruit bats, moth pupae and insects
    Zoo: 30% nectar, 30% fruit & vegetables (kale, grapes, apples, cantaloupe etc…), 30% bird of paradise pellets, 10% plants flowers and other novelty items.

habitat/range

    Habitat: Most common in lowlands although found up to 2600 ft. . • Found in wide variety of habitats including settlements to forest, coconut plantations, savanna, and mangrove
    Range: From the Molluccas east to the west Papuan Islands and New Guinea to around 141E.

status

    CITES App. II

other

    Previously referred to as rainbow lorikeets – actually a distinct sub-species • Important pollinator for coconut species.
    Komodo Dragon

Scientific name: Varanus komodoensis
Common name: Ora, Komodo dragon, buaja darat (land crocodile)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Komodo dragons  are the world's heaviest living lizards. They can grow to a length of 10 feet (over 3 meters), with an average length of 8 feet (2.5 meters) and weight of 200 lbs (91 kg.). Females are usually under 8 feet and weigh about 150 lbs. (68 kg.).

The Komodo dragon's keen sense of smell, if aided by favorable wind, enables it to seek out carrion. Dead and decaying flesh. up to 5 miles (8.5 kilometers) away.  Despite its size, the Komodo is fast moving and agile. They can climb trees and like all monitor lizards they are good swimmers.

Click to enlarge photo.

Doc

Their teeth are laterally compressed with serrated edges, resembling those of flesh-eating sharks. They have about 60 teeth that they replace frequently and are positioned to cut out chunks of its prey.  The highly flexible skull allows it to swallow large pieces of its food. The Komodos mouth is full of virulent bacteria and even if its prey survives the original attack, it will die of infection later.

Young dragons up to 29 inches (.75 meters) live in trees and eat insects, birds, eggs, small mammals and other reptiles.  They will descend from the tree for carrion.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

The distribution of Komodo dragons is restricted to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Rinca, Komodo, Flores and the smaller islands of Gili, Montang and Padar.  Padar does not have a permanent population.  The total range is less than 1,000 sq. km.  Komodo National Park makes up all islands except Flores.

The natural habitat of Komodo dragons is extremely harsh by human standards.   These arid volcanic islands have steep slopes and little available water most of the year.  A short monsoon season often produces local flooding. The average annual temperature at sea level on Komodo island is 80F. degrees. Dragons are most abundant in the lower arid forest and savanna.

Outsiders  found out about the Komodo dragons after WW1 when a report came from a downed aircraft and the surviving pilot swam to Komodo Island.

Click to enlarge photo.

Juvenile at 19 months

BEHAVIOR:

In the wild, Komodo dragons are generally solitary animals, except during the breeding season. Males maintain and defend a territory and patrol up to 1.2 miles (2 km.) per day.  Territories are dependent on the size of the dragon.  Feeding ranges extend further and may be shared with other males. A dragon will allow other dragons to cross its territory when they are on a food run. 

Dragons maintain burrows within their core ranges and occasionally males will swim from island to island over long distances. They regulate their body temperature (thermoregulation) Various physiological responses to controlling body temperature. Examples: ectothermic, endorthermic and heterothermic. by using a burrow.

DIET:

The Komodo is carnivorous and cannibalistic and it has a prodigious appetite. They regularly kill prey as large as pigs and small deer, and have been known to bring down an adult water buffalo. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat anything they can overpower including small dragons and small or injured humans (dragons make up to 10% of their diet).

An eyewitness account revealed that a 101 lb (46 kg.) dragon  ate a 90 lb. (41 kg.) pig in 20 minutes.  As a comparison, a 100 lb. person would have to eat 320 quarter pound hamburgers in less than 20 minutes to keep up with the dragon.

In the zoo, the Komodo dragons are fed previously frozen rats.

Click to enlarge photo.

T.W.

REPRODUCTION and GROWTH:

The life expectancy of a Komodo is between 20 to 40 years.  As noted above, Komodo dragons are generally solitary animals, except during the breeding season.

The male Komodo dragon presses his snout to the female's body, and flicks her with his long, forked tongue to obtain chemical information about her receptivity. He then scratches her back with his long claws, making a ratchet-like noise. If unreceptive, she raises and inflates her neck and hisses loudly.

The female wild dragons will utilize the nest mound of a brush turkey in which she will lay a clutch of up to 30 eggs. Hatchlings are about 15 inches (40 centimeters) and weigh 3.5 ounces (100 g.).

Juveniles are multi-hued, (yellow, green, brown and gray); with a speckled and banded skin.  Adult colors vary from earthen red to slate gray and black.

STATUS:

Endangered: The largest threat is volcanic activity, fire and subsequent loss of its prey base.  Currently habitat alteration , poaching of prey species and tourism may have the most pronounced effect.   Commercial trade in specimens or skins is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Wild Population: 3,000 to 5,000.