LesTension

By LesTension

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!

This Ground Hornbill seems to have located a tasty grub which would have eventually turned into beetle if allowed to live.  Technically, it's the larval stage of a June Bug.  Everywhere else in the world they are called May Beetles but in Wisconsin vernacular they are June Bugs (Phyllophaga sp.) despite the fact that they are beetles and not bugs.  In Wisconsin, "bug" is a collective noun for all insects.
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This particular bird loves to parade around the paddock with whatever it finds from food to sunglasses...as long as someone is watching, of course.  Shortly after this photo was made the grub became lunch. Had it been sunglasses instead, he would have waited until the keeper opened the gate and exchanged the sunglasses for a tasty mouse. He's the cleanup guy for the keeper and has learned that if he brings contraband to the gate, he will be rewarded with a food source.  Operant conditioning at the zoo.
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Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri) are native to the southern reaches of Africa.  This one lives in the zoo in Milwaukee as you've already cleverly deduced.
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Best in Large.

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