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It’s Sunday, and that means we have a batch of biologist John Avise‘s bird photos. Today’s group features headshots of birds in zoos. John’s text and IDs are indented, and you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Zoo Headshots 

I love visiting well-designed zoos, especially those with large open aviaries and other open-like enclosures.  The San Diego Zoo is exemplary in these regards.  This week’s post shows head portraits of several avian species from around the world that I’ve managed to photograph in zoo aviaries.  In such large enclosures, taking good photos remains challenging because the birds have plenty of space to freely move and fly around in their simulated natural habitats.

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvianus) male (native to South America):

Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina) (native to Africa):

American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) (native to the West Indies and northern South America):

Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) (native to southern South America):

Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) (native to sub-Saharan Africa and India):

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) (native to Southeast Asia):

Red-and-Green Macaw (Ara chloropterus) (native to South America):

Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) (native to South America):

Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) (native to Africa):

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) (native to Africa):

Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus) (native to southern Africa):

White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata) (Native to Africa):