Dizzy, an Oasis bird guardian dog, celebrated her birthday this week. Joe and Julie brought her a new toy to celebrate the day. We have five guardian dogs that work hard protecting the birds and other animals when the staff have all gone home for the day. They deserve to be spoiled with treats and toys.

Dizzy with her birthday toy

Also, this week we had the opportunity to observe Sampson, Alex and Nikko’s flying abilities. These three male Umbrella Cockatoos have lived next to each other in outdoor cages for some time and our hope is to move them into the King Aviary (male Cockatoo aviary) within the next week. With many of the birds we are never quite sure what flight skills we will see. In order to ensure they are safe in an aviary we want them to at least be able to get themselves gently to the ground.

We brought the three boys into a small flight to give them a chance to show us what they’ve got.  Sampson and Alex demonstrated short flights and landed gently on the ground. Overall they did well.

To our delight Nikko showed us more…

Joe gives Nikko a launch for a short flight to the stand.

Nikko in flight...Beautiful!

Next step, introducing them to their new flock. I’ll keep you updated on their transition into aviary life.