3 months ago This update was written by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute bird keeper Wesley Bailey. Last summer, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, experienced a bird baby boom. If you have followed my fellow keeper Erica Royer’s updates, you already know that our team helped raise four Guam kingfishers—a species considered extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. At the same time, we celebrated the hatching of two male brown kiwi chicks—a boon to the population of this vulnerable species. Our first chick, a male, hatched June 14, 2020, to 7-year-old mother Ora and 36-year-old father, Maori. Nearly three months later, the pair’s second chick—another male—emerged from his shell Sept. 4. Since both are still quite young, it can be difficult to discern their personalities. Compared with other chicks that we have hand-raised in the past, the first chick is a bit more easy-going than others at this age. However, like all kiwi, he has a tendency to be stubborn and ornery at times. His younger brother shares these characteristics, and is also very disinclined to being held.