Quote of the Week

Bird of the Week

Did You Know?

Vacancy

Our free-flight bird show currently has a vacancy for a show presenter/bird trainer. Experience in the animal field will be a big advantage but is not essential as full training will be provided by us. Duties include: training of the show collection, weight management and maintenance of the show collection, cleaning of enclosures, preparation of diets, record keeping, basic maintenance of enclosures and formulation of new dialogue and routines for the show collection. This is a full-time position and also requires working on some weekends and public holidays. If you have a passion for conservation, are hard-working, dedicated and think you have what it takes to join our team, please email your cv to education@urbp.co.za including a cover letter about yourself and your salary expectation. Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested.

New Show Birds

The past few months have seen a number of new birds coming through to the show for training. Some of these include Guira Cuckoos, Crowned Crane, Spotted Eagle-owl, Scarlet Ibis, Barn Owl and Blue & Gold Macaws. Their training is going very well and you will be able to see them making their show debuts over the next two months. We are slowly introducing them to audiences so if you are lucky to make get to see them in training on stage after the shows and get to be some of the first people to see these new stars on stage and be part of the audience.

Whilst most of the birds we work with in the show are hand-reared, it is one thing for them to work with the trainers every day back stage and on stage. When we bring an audience in or even more than 5 people, the birds can take a while to settle down. By the time our birds are in shows, many of them have been in training for up to 6 months backstage before we take them onto stage to continue with the training. It is only when they are performing their routines well that we begin to introduce them to the public in smaller shows. After they have settled into their routines with small crowds, we then start to bring them out with bigger groups until they are working well in any situation. The time this take varies with each bird but can take another 6 months with some of the more nervous birds.

All this means that by the time many of you see our show, up to a year of intensive training has gone into each bird. It also means that it is not a quick process to get new birds on stage and into a show and also makes every bird you see special. So the next time you come and see the show, remember how much work has gone into the training of each bird and how hard they work for you.

"Scratch" our Common Barn Owl in backstage training for the show

"Bug" our beautiful Spotted Eagle-owl in training for the show.

Updates

The park has been packed this week as schools around the country are on holiday and we just wanted to share some pics of updates since our last post. Don't forget there is always something new to see and do at the park so come on round and see for yourself what we have been up to. Also don't forget to check out our new website at www.urbp.co.za and let us know what you think.

School Holidays

With kids around the country going on holiday today, why not make a trip to the Umgeni River Bird Park? With almost 800 birds from 200 species, there is something for everyone. Don't forget the free-flight bird show at 11am and 2pm every day during the holidays. There is also the Cockatoo Cafe, playground for the kids and also lots of babies and new birds on display. So if you haven't been to the park for a while, make a trip down and see the new additions and renovations that have been going on.

The park is open from 9am to 5pm every day and entrance fees are only R50 for Adults and R30 for Children (4-12 years) and pensioners. If you are lucky enough you may also get to see our little Marabou Stork at the Show Auditorium just before the start of each show so come down the park these holidays and be inspired to conserve.