Welcome to our page dedicated just to kids!

Click on the Activity page and the Did You Know? page for some zoo-themed fun!

Featured Animal: Peafowl

Runaway Train

Indian peafowl, which are the official bird of India, are members of the pheasant family.  Although ‘peacock’ is often used to describe the entire species, the term technically refers only to the male.  Females are actually called peahens and are less vibrantly colored than the males.  Only the peacock has the elaborate “train” of feathers, which actually grows out the bird’s back, not its tail.  This feature is a courtship adaptation; peahens prefer the bigger and brighter trains.  Since peacocks grow their tails a little bigger each year, older peacocks tend to receive the most attention from the peahens.

No Break for Momma

Opposite of the males, peahens need to blend into their habitat of dry semi-desert grasslands, scrub and deciduous forests.  Duller colors are much more practical when the peahen is faced with the solitary job of raising her babies, also called peachicks.  When she is about to lay eggs, the peahen makes a scrape in the ground and lines it with sticks.  She will sit on her eggs almost constantly until they hatch about four weeks later.  Peachicks can walk around and forage soon after hatching, but they are vulnerable to attack and cannot fly to safety for at least two weeks.  At four weeks, they grow the peafowl’s signature crest, and by two months, regardless of gender, they will be a miniature version of their mother in color.

  
Big Talkers

Peafowl have 11 different calls and are notoriously loud, especially during the early morning and late evening.  Peacocks have big voices, and will yell to potential mates almost all day during breeding season.  The noise might upset neighboring humans, but fellow animals are surely appreciative; whenever a peacock’s sharp eyes catch sight of a predator, they sound an alarm loud to warn everyone in the vicinity.

Meet the Keeper: Ed Parks

On any given day, Ed Parks might spend the morning stabilizing a broken board, mucking the ponies’ stalls, or checking an animal for signs of ill-health.  Well before noon, he is already dusted with sand and flecks of hay, proof of his hectic and physical schedule.  His job as a keeper of domestic animals involves considerable housekeeping work, but on occasion he gets a short break from the demands of the barn for some time in the spotlight with his canine pal, Emma.

 Anyone who has been to a summer dog demonstration is familiar with Emma, the once troubled lab mix whose cheerful friendliness and reserved energy make her an instant hit with children.  Whenever Emma is greeting the public, Ed is there too, armed with his clicker and treats.  “Kids like her so much,” Ed says of Emma.  Among other things, Ed guides the well-behaved canine to sit, come, stay, and perform agility trials, proving she is far removed from the twice-returned canine the Zoo adopted from the SPCA.

Although Ed has been with the Zoo since 2000, he worked in the maintenance department for the first six years.  The date of his promotion to zookeeper, November 25, 2006, is one he can produce without much thought, as it is one he is very proud of.  He now cares for a variety of animals, including the yak and spectacled bears on the wildlife trail and the barnyard goats, sheep, llamas, donkeys, ponies, and—of course—Emma.  Throughout the upcoming year, he will also assist in the training of the newest additions to Rosamond Gifford Zoo, two guinea hogs, for their own demonstrations next summer. 

Ed worked a variety of jobs before coming to the Zoo, including one at a horse farm in Baldwinsville and at a carwash, but his attachment to the animals and his colleagues has kept him at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.  He admits the job is a lot of work; he and his partner are constantly occupied throughout the day.  Still, he is hard-pressed to come up with any aspect of his work that he dislikes.  “There’s no worst thing,” he explains, although venturing into the manure dumpster in the summer has never been something he looks forward to.  He loves that being a keeper allows him to learn from and interact with the animals and zoo patrons, but praises the people he works with as the main reason his experience is wholly positive, “We laugh a lot everyday.  We laugh all the time.”