Open Wide! A Chick Grows Up Behind the Scenes

Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society A baby crested coua shows off its eye-catching mouth markings at the Central Park Zoo.

Some of the most interesting animal stuff at the zoo goes on behind the scenes. Today's (non-)exhibit: a baby crested coua, born last month and being hand-reared out of public view at the Central Park Zoo.

Check out the crazy markings inside its mouth. The zoo has not been selling ad space to Target on its animals' bodies (though that might be a good revenue generator). Rather, the zoo says, the markings, different for each coua chick, are believed to be used by parents for identification or to visually rem ind them where to put the food. They fade as the bird matures.

The coua is a kind of cuckoo native to Madagascar. The Central Park Zoo says it is only the fourth American zoo to have successfully reared a coua chick.