Operation Chough Webcam Update
The 2024 Operation Chough breeding season has now ended!
We will update the info below shortly with the latest news on the Kent Reintroduction Project.
The LIVE webcam will go live again in March 2025!
The pictures for our nest cam are from our seclusion aviaries, a quiet location where we breed Red-billed Choughs as part of our long-term project for the species. We monitor all the nests and choose one to show, depending on the activity going on at any particular time.
Some of the cameras have tiny lights inside the nestbox and at night they switch to infra-red so the birds can be seen roosting, incubating eggs or brooding chicks 24 hours a day.
As well as images, there is also sound from the nests. We find this helpful to understand if the adults are doing their ‘feeding call’. This call is needed early on as the chicks don’t open their eyes for a few days and need an audible signal to know that it is the right time to open their mouths for food.
During the breeding season the chicks are constantly monitored by camera, and if necessary weighed and given supplementary feed or veterinary care. If a nest needs to be accessed for this, the adult birds are encouraged to stay out of the way using positive reinforcement methods.
KENT REINTRODUCTION PROJECT
Last year (2023) was an important year as chicks bred here were included in the project to restore the species to the coast of Kent. Read more on the Kent Wildlife Trust website HERE.
We thank Paradise Park’s partners, Wildwood Trust and the Kent Wildlife Trust who raised funds so that we could increase the number of aviaries available for chough breeding.
JERSEY REINTRODUCTION PROJECT
For news on the reintroduction of the species in Jersey, where choughs bred here at Paradise Park are now living free after an absence of 100 years, go to the Birds on the Edge project page. There are now about 40 choughs flying free in Jersey, most of them having fledged in the wild with thanks to our partners at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
DONATE
If you would like to make a donation to help the work of ‘Operation Chough’ here at Paradise Park we would be extremely grateful. Thank you xx
Find out about our work, history, achievements and lots more on our dedicated Operation Chough website.
Photo: Ray weighing a chough chick at Operation Chough HQ.
Please check our events menu for other webcams.