Today is Valentine's Day, a time for us humans to express our love for one another. Although animals don't give boxes of chocolates with pretty ribbons, they do have some interesting rituals to impress potential mates.
The Bald Eagle is famous for being the national symbol of the United States. Avid bird watchers, however, know them for their amazing Cartwheel Display. In this aerial ritual, a pair flies to great heights and then locks talons as they do “cartwheels” plummeting down towards the ground. They only break apart at the very last moment.
Eastern Screech Owl males approach females while vocalizing, bobbing their heads, and winking their eyes slowly. If a female accepts his advances, she will put her bill next to his and they will preen each other.
The males of many bird species bring food to the females. A male Northern Cardinal will offer seeds to its mate, placing the seed in the female's bill. Male American Kestrels will bring food to a perch and announce the offering with a call and a fluttering flight. The female perches next to the male and they each bow their heads several times before the female takes the mouse or large insect from the talons of her mate.
A male Eastern Box Turtle chases his intended mate and nips at her shell or chin.
In possibly the most fascinating mating display, Snowshoe Hare males jump and urinate on the females from midair! The female sometimes does the same to the male.
To learn more about the interesting rituals of Ohio’s wildlife, come visit Perkins Wildlife Center and catch one of our live animal programs every Saturday and Sunday at 1 PM and 3 PM.
Kaitlyn Gabriel, CMNH Wildlife Specialist
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Groundhog Fun Day News Report
Groundhog Fun Day was a huge success! WKYC Channel 3 covered the event. The video of the footage, featuring Director of Wildlife Resources Harvey Webster, Perkins Wildlife Center Co-Manager Michelle Leighty, and Lake Erie Eddie the Groundhog, can be seen below.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Groundhog Fun Day 2012!
Groundhog Fun Day 2012 is just one week away! Join the Wildlife staff and Eddie the Whistle Pig in celebrating on Saturday, January 28th!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Butcher Bird Spotlight
Each of the animals at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has a story. They are animals that for one reason or another cannot be released or returned to the wild. The safest place for them is in captivity, and here they have the opportunity to educate thousands of visitors each year.
This is Lindsay, our Loggerhead Shrike. She was hatched in July of 2002 with a deformed beak. Her upper beak does not grow as it should, which allows her lower beak to become too overgrown. Her beak requires routine trims by the wildlife staff. If she lived in the wild she would not be able to hunt food properly and would not survive.
In the wild she would normally use her hooked beak to kill mice, birds and insects and then impale them on thorny branches to easily rip them apart. Shrikes are given the nickname “Butcher Bird.”
The Loggerhead Shrike was common in Ohio in the 1930s but their populations began to decline due to habitat loss. Sightings are rare in Ohio today.
Melissa Terwilliger, CMNH Wildlife Specialist
This is Lindsay, our Loggerhead Shrike. She was hatched in July of 2002 with a deformed beak. Her upper beak does not grow as it should, which allows her lower beak to become too overgrown. Her beak requires routine trims by the wildlife staff. If she lived in the wild she would not be able to hunt food properly and would not survive.
In the wild she would normally use her hooked beak to kill mice, birds and insects and then impale them on thorny branches to easily rip them apart. Shrikes are given the nickname “Butcher Bird.”
The Loggerhead Shrike was common in Ohio in the 1930s but their populations began to decline due to habitat loss. Sightings are rare in Ohio today.
Melissa Terwilliger, CMNH Wildlife Specialist
Monday, January 9, 2012
Raccoon Creature Feature
In this video Wildlife Specialist Katie Overholser introduces Brad, Kelly, and Nobbum, CMNH's resident raccoons.
Wildlife Summer Intern Experience
Darryl Pronty, Animal Science student at The Ohio State University and CMNH Wildlife intern from the summer of 2011, blogged about his museum internship experience.
Check it out at this link:
http://studentblogs.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/2012/01/day-at-the-museum/#.TwsTt9dS-RU.facebook
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Groundhog Artwork
Eddie the Groundhog and I had fun with paint today! A few bottles of non-toxic paint and a couple of canvases resulted in an engaging enrichment activity for Eddie and two great animal artwork pieces. Eddie's paintings will be raffled off at our Groundhog Fun-day event on Saturday, January 28th.
Two of the finished paintings:
More information on Groundhog Fun-day can be found at this link:
http://www.cmnh.org/site/ClassesandPrograms/SpecialEvents/Groundhog.aspx
We look forward to seeing you there!
Michelle Leighty, Perkins Wildlife Center Co-Manager
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