Black-necked stilts are a tall, medium-size shorebird with black-and-white coloration, long pink legs, a long neck, and a straight black bill. They spend most of their days gracefully darting along shorelines and wetlands and wading in shallow water.
In relation to body size, they have the longest legs compared to any other bird aside
It was a busy week for Rosalie and her five cubs, as they moved back inside an artificial den and are back on the Cheetah Cub Cam. Animal care staff were finally able weigh each cub!
It has been a busy week for Rosalie and her cubs, as they have moved back inside
Koi fish are colorful, ornamental versions of the common carp. Modern Japanese koi are believed to date back to early 19th-century Japan where wild, colorful carp were caught, kept and bred by rice farmers. The word “koi” comes from the Japanese word for “carp.”
Though carp domestication is believed to have begun in China as far back as the 4th
Happy salamander Saturday! This annual holiday honoring these amazing amphibians takes place on the first Saturday in May. To celebrate, we’re counting down animal keeper Matt Neff’s top six favorite salamander facts! Stop by the Reptile Discovery Center’s Jewels of Appalachia exhibit to see these awesome amphibians up close.
Salamanders have super-sensitive skin—and many breathe through it.
Eight-week-old Allen’s swamp monkey Zawadi is on the move. Over the past few weeks, biologist Becky Malinsky has watched the baby—whose name means „gift“ in Swahili—become more independent.
At the Zoo, the monkeys don’t have to worry about predators, but we put water in
The largest living land mammals, elephants are intelligent, social and vital to their ecosystems.
Elephants actually walk on their toes and have a thick, fibrous pad on the bottom
For four years, the Reptile Discovery Center’s Asian water dragon female lived alone. Then, while examining eggs as part of a study, animal keepers made a shocking discovery—one was fertile! How could a female lay a fertile egg without a mate? They turned to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) for an answer to the mystery: parthenogenesis.
Miller: While biologists have documented cases of parthenogenesis in other species
Summer is in full swing at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. Read the latest update on Mei Xiang and Tian Tian from Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas.
Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, which means that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have
The panda house is closed to the public beginning today, Sept. 1 to provide quiet for Mei Xiang as she enters the final stages of a pregnancy or pseudopregnancy.
has now had 3 surviving cubs—the panda team is still waiting to see if she will have
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo is home to over a dozen species of primates. The homestead for the Zoo’s gorillas and orangutans is the Great Ape House.
Whether inside or outside, the apes have an opportunity to climb trees and multi-level
