A friend of mine emailed this article to me. It wasn't a link. They put it right into my email, so I've cut and pasted it into this post.
"This past fall, a green-breasted mango hummingbird was spotted in Wisconsin—much further north than the species had ever been observed previously. The bird, later nicknamed Mango, was truly out of his element, far away from the established range for his species in Mexico and Central America.
Bird watchers flocked to view the small visitor and many became concerned that the hummingbird would not be able to survive a Wisconsin winter. A wildlife rehabilitator was called in to rescue Mango from the coming chill and to find the warm-weather bird a new home.
The rehabilitator found that home at Brookfield Zoo, specifically in the free flight area of Perching Bird House. Due to long-planned renovations to the building, Mango was off exhibit for several months, but he is now enjoying his spacious and comfortable new habitat.
If you haven’t been to Perching Bird House recently, come to visit Mango and to witness the now complete improvements to his new home. The free-flight area has been fully restored with new skylights, plantings, a painted mural, and new perches. There is also a change that you won’t be able to see, but that means a lot to the birds. Some of the new skylights are transparent to ultraviolet (UV) light.
We humans can see only the well-known spectrum of colors from violet to orange, but some species of birds are thought to see the UV spectrum. The presence of UV light may help these birds perform such essential tasks as finding appropriate foods and selecting a mate."
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http://tinyurl.com/42o3ah
I remember there was quite a lot of concern on this forum about the wisdom or the morality of this rescue. I guess I am somewhere in the middle. While I like to see birds given the chance to be wild, I don't think a life in a zoo is necessarily terrible. I say this, having worked for 3 years as a keeper at the National Aviary (then Pittsburgh Aviary) here in Pittsburgh, PA. We had some individual hummingbirds that seemed to thrive, and I remember in particular a male Costa's that lived to be at least 12 or 13 years of age. On the other hand, I felt bad at times that we often only had single individuals of certain hummingbirds, so breeding was not an option. Something about that felt wrong. I do know that some zoos have been able to breed hummingbirds, and that certainly does speak to the idea that given the right captive conditions, hummingbirds can be fairly comfortable in zoos. Anyway, I'm glad to see that the Mango is surviving, and apparently thriving. I've been to Brookfield, and I think it's one of the better zoos for birds. They were also very helpful to me in my work as an illustrator. Not all zoos were as kind and willing to help as Brookfield was, so I do have a warm spot in my heart for them.
