One of the great joys of working in the rainforest exhibit here at the Academy is there are some really neat species plus there are always new things happening.

I’d like to introduce Fred, our bird’s nest Anthurium (Anthurium spp). Anthuriums are a wide-spread neotropical genera that have adapted to lots of niches, from epiphytic to terrestrial. There are some Anthuriums that are common in the horticulture industry. Fred is one of my favorite plant specimens in our exhibit, due to its unique structure and size. Fred is in a planter on the Costa Rica level (3rd floor) of the rainforest…come check it out on your next visit!

We have two new additions to our bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) population. One of our two pairs has recently fledged two offspring. After an incubation of about two weeks and another two weeks in their nest before they flew out, the little birds are now exploring their environment. Check out this great photo of one of the parents (on the left) feeding a fledgling.

We also have an opal-rumped tanager (Tangara velia) incubating two eggs on her nest. Opal-rumped tanagers are one of the twelve species of passerine birds we have in our rainforest here at the Academy. Here she is sitting on her nest…she should be sitting tight for another 10 days.