One of the world’s smallest birds of prey has laid eggs at the Cornish Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary.
Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, which houses the only collared falconets in UK and EU zoos, has achieved a significant milestone. The sanctuary took in two females and one male collared falconet in early 2021 after an attempt to illegally import them into Europe.
Curator David Woolcock announced that staff were celebrating a “breakthrough” with the exciting news that one of the falconets has laid eggs for the first time at the park.
However, it is not yet known which of the collared falconets laid the eggs.
Mr. Woolcock explained, “We are leaving them alone and not disturbing them to give them the best chance, so it will be a little while before we know if the eggs are fertile and have hatched. But even reaching this stage is a significant breakthrough.”
He also noted that the collared falconets cannot be returned to the wild, so they were provided a home at the sanctuary.
These birds are widely distributed across Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. They primarily feed on insects such as cicadas, dragonflies, bees, and butterflies, and are also known to prey on small birds.