A green oropendola chick hatched at the Virginia Zoo on May 8, 2026, the first of her species ever hatched there, and the first chick for both of her parents.
Arnold and Cayenne arrived at the Norfolk zoo in 2019. The zoo announced the hatching on July 31, alongside two Kenya crested guineafowl keets that hatched on June 28 and July 4.
A species with no breeding program yet
Green oropendolas are not managed under an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan. Those programs weigh the genetics and temperament of individual animals to keep populations in human care diverse and sound, and the association can set one up once at least 15 accredited facilities hold a species.
This hatching adds to the number of green oropendolas in human care, which the zoo notes could eventually push the species toward a managed breeding program of its own.
Keepers report that Cayenne has been attentive. She is still feeding her chick even now that the young bird has left the nest and can forage on her own in the World of Reptiles Conservatory. Male green oropendolas do not help raise chicks in the wild, but they guard the nest, and Arnold defended his while Cayenne incubated and reared.
A first-time mother, and a young one
The two guineafowl keets are the first offspring for Ernie, 11, and Jewels, 1, and came from some of the first eggs Jewels laid.
Jewels is not yet two years old, which makes this her first breeding season and makes her the youngest female at first reproduction the zoo has recorded.
