Bird Houses In Zoos Today?

Sarus Crane

Sarus Crane

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Maybe they were a thing of the past but I really love architecturally pleasing bird houses in zoos. Examples would be like St. Louis, Toledo, Philly, Bronx, DC, those in Europe etc.... I really like how you can venture into different ecological and continental regions under one roof. Are zoos still building them or do they just create outdoor aviaries for their birds through firms like A Thru Z Consulting? They're great for rainy days or for when its too hot and often they have lots of species in each room or flight cage for visitors to view. What parameters would zoos be using in their construction and are they popular with the public as much as outdoor walk through aviaries? You could even attach yards on the outside for larger species such as ratites, cranes, storks, flamingos like at DC's National Zoo. What are your thoughts? Would you like more zoos to construct these?

I always used to like visiting the 1916 Bird House at the Philly Zoo, but haven't been back to see the McNeil Avian Center. Does anyone here have photos of its interior looks prior to its McNeil Center renovation? I just have a couple and not that good quality (used a point and shoot camera).
 
I would love to see photos of the old avian center, I don't really remember it at all (just the old big cat area, primarily). The McNeil Avian Center is rather nice though, it is still primarily divided by areas and even has a small section on Guam birds. The National Zoo's bird building is gone now, as well. The new building isn't supposed to open for several more years and the focus is on migration, likely without the outdoor yards based on illustrations and descriptions they've shared so far.

While not just a bird house, the desert dome at Omaha has a nice set up, I think, with the 3 different focal areas and many birds in each area, both free flying and in wire mesh exhibits built into the walls.
 
I think a large part of the reason new Bird Houses are no longer being built it because zoo's these days tend to focus on dividing themselves up by geography. For example while zoos use to have a Big Cat House, an Ape House, and an Elephant House, these days zoos will usually have a African Savanna zone, an Asia Forest Zone, and a North American Prairie zone. I've only ever been in one bird house (the national zoo's) but I quite liked it. I thought some of the exhibits could of been bigger but overall I enjoyed it. It'd be interesting to see a new 21st century approach to a bird house, but unfortunately I think, for the most part, those days are behind us. (however it'll be interesting to see how the national zoo's migration building turns out)
 
I like both styles (taxa grouping and geographical) and I think there is room for both. I also like zoo buildings with architectural style compared to buildings that "look modern". Maybe its just because that's what I grew up with (OK aged beyond my maturity).
 
Daktari JG said:
I like both styles (taxa grouping and geographical) and I think there is room for both. I also like zoo buildings with architectural style compared to buildings that "look modern". Maybe its just because that's what I grew up with (OK aged beyond my maturity).
Click to expand...

This follows my preferences as well. While geographic grouping is predominant in American zoos, taxonomic grouping has a lot of advantages to it. It places animals with similar needs in the same areas, makes it easier for visitors to see what they're most interested in, and allows for showcasing the diversity of species within groups, which I think could potentially make a bigger educational impact (ex. active colonial insectivore bird vs shy solitary herbivore bird). I also have a taste for classical elements in architecture, so the old-style taxonomic houses are more aesthetically pleasing to me than most modern structures.

A few of the bird houses I've been to use piano wire rather than glass-fronted enclosures. I've heard different opinions about this practice; personally, I think it works well if the bird house is not often crowded, and if sensitive birds are kept in a separate area. Piano wire allows you to hear the calls clearly when they're made, and also makes you feel like you're sharing a space with them more than glass-fronted exhibits.

I've found that bird houses get less foot traffic than reptile or mammal houses, which is a mixed bag for me; less people makes me disappointed, but also I like having the birds to myself!
 
Houston Zoo has the Tropical Bird House: you walk in to see several birds behind glass, then there's a big open walk-through area, and then more birds behind glass.
San Antonio Zoo has the Hixon Bird House. Most of the birds are behind glass, arranged by continent and biome. However, there's a small fenced off island in the middle, with a pond and several trees, that has several different birds that sometimes venture out into the open...there was this rather confident mountain peacock-pheasant...
Abilene Zoo has a small one in their Elm Creek Backyard exhibit, all North American species.
 
You bring up a good point. When my mom goes with me to zoos outside of our normal range, she either doesn't go in buildings or spends the entire time jumping and screaming at every little thing because she's afraid of snakes. At our usual zoos - DC and Philly - she just does something else while I go in the reptile buildings.
 
I love the renovated Blackburn Pavilion at London Zoo, one of my favourite houses there. It's been renovated to evoke a Victorian bird house, which I think it does really well. On entering the building you are presented with mesh-covered aviaries for a selection of species, after which you enter the first of two walk-through aviaries, the first for a mix of small water, wading and forest birds, the second walkthrough was originally for hummingbirds, but they didn't seem to thrive there and it now houses other small birds. There are outside aviaries (non-walkthrough) backing on to the building's perimeter containing larger birds, although since the Land of the Lions was built, some of these are no longer accessible to the public (mores the pity). Others will know the history of the house better than I do (@Tim May knows pretty much everything there is to know about London Zoo!), but I'm sure this building has been a bird house for many years prior to it's most recent refurbishment.
 
I believe it was London zoo's original reptile house and was converted into a bird house in 1928. It used to have three central aviaries with large wire fronted cages on three sides and some small glass fronted cages along the entrance wall. It was always filled by the deafening sound of the bell bird.
 
Ned said:
I believe it was London zoo's original reptile house and was converted into a bird house in 1928. It used to have three central aviaries with large wire fronted cages on three sides and some small glass fronted cages along the entrance wall. It was always filled by the deafening sound of the bell bird.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the current Bird House was built in 1882 /1883; it was originally built as a Reptile House, with the cost of the construction being (partly) funded by the sale of the famous African elephant ‘Jumbo’.

When the current Reptile House was opened in 1927 the previous one (now called Blackburn Pavilion) was converted for birds.

Prior to it being refurbished and renamed The Blackburn Pavilion, it was possible to see patterns on the floor of the Bird House indicating where the original crocodile pools were situated long ago.
 
The only traditional bird house I've been in has the Denver Zoo's Bird World, but I don't know if there's anything architecturally unique about it.
 
Another UK zoo with a longstanding traditional -style Victorian Bird House is Bristol. I remember it in the Sixties as a noisy place when it contained many small cages housing parrots and other species, while there were macaws on swing and stand perches and other birds, and even Lemurs in larger corner enclosures. Nowadays its been modernised as a mainly walk-through exhibit, but still maintains its function as a Bird House.
 
Barcelona zoo has a bird house with exhibits representing different ecosystems. There exhibits were in my opinion beautiful when I visited it last year.
 
TinoPup said:
. The National Zoo's bird building is gone now, as well. The new building isn't supposed to open for several more years and the focus is on migration, likely without the outdoor yards based on illustrations and descriptions they've shared so far.
Click to expand...

The outdoor yards are staying, just not much is really being done to them.
 
Both of them have very nice bird houses in my opinion. Brookfield's Feathers and Scales is my favorite exhibit in the zoo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top