MARWELL has welcomed the arrival of a pair of new blue-faced honeyeater chicks, giving visitors a glimpse at behaviour rarely seen at zoos.

Marwell’s blue-faced honey eaters are the only birds of their species to be found in UK zoos and are particularly notable for the unusual behaviour they exhibit within families.

Dan Garrick, birds team leader, said: “This species is interesting because juveniles from previous clutches stay with the adult pair to assist in rearing future clutches.

“This behaviour is rarely observed in zoos, but because we leave our honeyeaters together the older juveniles are carrying out this behaviour and are learning important skills in the process.

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“The chicks are reared on insects but as they grow, they will eat fruits and nectar too. We provide fresh blossoms throughout spring and summer to stimulate natural behaviours.”

The zoo has been able to capture footage of the chick’s progress thanks to a carefully placed nest cam. The videos also show juveniles from the previous clutch feeding the youngsters.

Blue-faced honeyeaters only gain their distinctive blue facial markings when fully grown.  Juveniles can be distinguished by their less vibrant, green facial markings. Hatchlings stay in the nest for around 23 days and the new arrivals have successfully fledged the nest, with visitors able to catch a glimpse of them in Marwell’s walk-through aviary.

In the wild, blue-faced honeyeaters can be found in forests and scrubland in south-east and eastern Australia where they enjoy a variety of nectar-rich plants. Here, their enclosure contains eucalyptus and melaleuca plants like those found in their natural habitat.

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Honeyeaters have specially adapted tongues with a brush like tip that helps them to eat nectar, a trait that has earned them the affectionate nickname “banana bird” due to their fondness for banana fruit and flowers.

For those looking to find out more about Marwell’s bird species, why not take a look behind the scenes with the zoo’s new bird experience? This offers the opportunity to put out food for several exotic bird species, go behind the scenes with the keepers and ask all of those burning questions face to face.

For the full list of experiences and booking information visit marwell.org.uk/support-us/animal-experiences/.