14 DAY TRIAL // Staff at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia, US, have recently announced that, on January 1, the facility welcomed a rare Micronesian Kingfisher chick.
Information shared with the public says that the baby bird's mom is about 2 years old. Its father, on the other hand, has been around for about 8 years now.
For the time being, the chick's caretakers are unable to say whether the baby Micronesian Kingfisher is a boy or a girl, Zoo Borns reports.
Still, they are confident it will not be long until they figure out whether they should decorate its nursery with blue or pink balloons.
The same source details that, just to be on the safe side and make sure that the chick has the best chances at survival, keepers have decided to hand-raise it.
Thus, they now take turns feeding it once every two hours or so. By the looks of it, the baby bird has a healthy appetite, and this very much pleases its caretakers.
Micronesian Kingfishers used to be quite a common sight in Guam. However, after an invasive species, i.e. the brown tree snake, took over its natural habitat, it went extinct in the wild.
Conservationists are now breeding these birds in captivity, and hope that one day they will be able to reintroduce the species in Guam.