Houston Zoo Birds of the World Information

TheImmigrant1

TheImmigrant1

Well-Known Member
Full Species List
(* means it’s a species that is signed but not yet on exhibit)
(‘ means it’s a species that is unsigned and not yet on exhibit)
South American Wetlands
1. Chilean Flamingo
2. Boat Billed Heron
3. Wood Stork
4. Southern Lapwing *
5. Crested Quail Dove *
6. Roseate Spoonbill
7. Giant Wood Rail *
8. American White Ibis ‘
9. Black Faces Ibis
10. Scarlet Ibis
11. Puna Teal
12. Brazilian Teal
13. Orinoco Goose *
14. Comb Duck
15. White Faced Whistling Duck
16. Red Shoveler *
17. Argentine Ruddy Duck ‘
18. Black Necked Stilt ‘

African Savanna
1. Grey Crowned Crane
2. Malagasy Sacred Ibis
3. Ruppel’s Griffin Vulture
4. Cape Vulture
5. Hooded Vulture
6. Yellow Billed Stork
7. Blue Billed Teal *
8. Vulturine Guineafowl *
9. African Pygmy Goose *
10. Great Blue Turaco *
11. Maccoa Duck ‘
12. Blue Headed Wood Dove *
13. African Spoonbill
14. Hamerkop
15. Western Plantain Eater *
16. African Wattled Lapwing *
17. Blue Bellied Roller ‘
18. Lilac Breasted Roller’

North American Woodlands
1. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
2. American Robin ‘
3. American Goldfinch ‘
4. Gray Catbird
5. Mourning Dove ‘
6. Cedar Waxwing ‘
7. Blue Grosbeak
8. Northern Bobwhite
9. House Finch
10. Eastern Screech Owl ‘
11. Blue Jay
12. Downy Woodpecker ‘
13. Red Bellied Woodpecker ‘
14. Painted Bunting
15. Northern Cardinal
16. Baltimore Oriole
17. Indigo Bunting
18. White Crowned Sparrow
19. Wood Thrush
20-22 ‘ Species I have not gotten information about yet but who have respective empty signs.

If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them as well.
 
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The Numbers (All taken from Houston’s own information handout)
Cost:
• Total Project - $13.5 million

Size:
  • 3/4 acres of exhibit area (¾ of a football field)
  • 5,500 ft for ACE
Aviary Design:
  • South American Aviary was made with two steel arches, which were brought into the Zoo in six sections. Each arch weighs 6 tons, or a little less than 2 female Asian Elephants.
  • South American Aviary:
  • 6700 ft (about twice the area of a tennis court) of exhibit area
  • 33 feet tall above flamingo island
  • Pool holds over 20,000 gallons (enough to fill 7 concrete mixer trucks)
  • African Aviary:
  • 5,100 ft (about the area of a basketball court) of exhibit area o 23 feet tall at its highest point
  • Pool holds 1,000 gallons (or 20 bathtubs)
  • North America Aviary:
  • 1800 ft (about half the area of a tennis court) of exhibit area
  • 25 feet tall at its highest point.
  • Water feature is only about 3 inches at its deepest and about 4.5 feet long.
 
Additionally I was told that Three Toed Box Turtles, Radiated Tortoises and atleast one species of South American freshwater turtle will be added to their respective aviaries, but after every species of bird is successfully introduced.
 
the North America Aviary is definitely the most exciting species wise. though the South America and Africa Aviaries have a few nice unexpected species too such as Giant Wood Rail and Western Plantain-Eater. Definitely excited to see another AZA zoo have woodpeckers!
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
the North America Aviary is definitely the most exciting species wise. though the South America and Africa Aviaries have a few nice unexpected species too such as Giant Wood Rail and Western Plantain-Eater. Definitely excited to see another AZA zoo have woodpeckers!
Click to expand...
I am glad the woodpeckers are coming. I have yet to see one at a zoo. I've only seen a couple in the wild.
 
TheImmigrant1 said:
Full Species List
(* means it’s a species that is signed but not yet on exhibit)
(‘ means it’s a species that is unsigned and not yet on exhibit)
South American Wetlands
1. Chilean Flamingo
2. Boat Billed Heron
3. Wood Stork
4. Southern Lapwing *
5. Crested Quail Dove *
6. Roseate Spoonbill
7. Giant Wood Rail *
8. American White Ibis ‘
9. Black Faces Ibis
10. Scarlet Ibis
11. Puna Teal
12. Brazilian Teal
13. Orinoco Goose *
14. Comb Duck
15. White Faced Whistling Duck
16. Red Shoveler *
17. Argentine Ruddy Duck ‘
18. Black Necked Stilt ‘

African Savanna
1. Grey Crowned Crane
2. Malagasy Sacred Ibis
3. Ruppel’s Griffin Vulture
4. Cape Vulture
5. Hooded Vulture
6. Yellow Billed Stork
7. Blue Billed Teal *
8. Vulturine Guineafowl *
9. African Pygmy Goose *
10. Great Blue Turaco *
11. Maccoa Duck ‘
12. Blue Headed Wood Dove *
13. African Spoonbill
14. Hamerkop
15. Western Plantain Eater *
16. African Wattled Lapwing *
17. Blue Bellied Roller ‘
18. Lilac Breasted Roller’

North American Woodlands
1. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
2. American Robin ‘
3. American Goldfinch ‘
4. Gray Catbird
5. Mourning Dove ‘
6. Cedar Waxwing ‘
7. Blue Grosbeak
8. Northern Bobwhite
9. House Finch
10. Eastern Screech Owl ‘
11. Blue Jay
12. Downy Woodpecker ‘
13. Red Bellied Woodpecker ‘
14. Painted Bunting
15. Northern Cardinal
16. Baltimore Oriole
17. Indigo Bunting
18. White Crowned Sparrow
19. Wood Thrush
20-22 ‘ Species I have not gotten information about yet but who have respective empty signs.

If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them as well.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing this info!

Were any of the species of bird in the South American aviary taken from the Pantanal aviaries? Or did they get new individuals from other facilities?

Also, won't the Eastern Screech Owl harm the other birds on habitat?
 
Any idea whatever happened to the zoo’s Atwater Prairie Chickens? Way back when, as they were talking about a bird area, making their chickens and conservation efforts front and center was supposed to be a highlight.

I do miss the hornbills and macaws. Oh well …
 
Yes, most if not all of the species also present in the pantanal aviaries were taken directly from there. This includes the Black Necked Stilts, Wood Storks, Giant Wood Rails, Roseate Spoonbills and several duck species.

Also yeah I kinda questioned the screech owls too not gonna lie. Apparently they plan on training them similarly to the vultures and feed them separately from the rest of the birds not to mention they are “noctural”. I’m still a bit unsure myself but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
 
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Trowaman said:
Any idea whatever happened to the zoo’s Atwater Prairie Chickens? Way back when, as they were talking about a bird area, making their chickens and conservation efforts front and center was supposed to be a highlight.

I do miss the hornbills and macaws. Oh well …
Click to expand...
Oh man you’re gonna be so upset about the fact that there WAS supposed to be an Asian aviary in BotW. We didn’t actually miss out on much though as it was only set to house Rhinoceros Hornbill and maaaaybee Victoria Crowned Pigeon. What I will say is that if you’re a bird fan there might be something for you in Asian Islands in a few years ;)

As far as I know the prairie chickens weren’t followed up on because they “are very skittish around people and frequently hurt themselves on exhibit”. I was never given a real answer though honestly. If I had any guesses I’d say that the project’s funding was likely far smaller than initially expected so the bird garden idea had to be dialed back a bit which left species like the APC and St. Vincent Amazon Parrots on the cutting room floor. They’re species the zoo already successfully breeds behind the scenes so they wouldn’t be losing much besides public exhibitry by cutting them, which makes them easy targets.

Additionally, most of the North American songbirds the zoo put in the North American habitat came from a surprise confiscation from US Fish and Wildlife Services so they were kind of a last minute addition in the project’s lifespan changing the conservation theme to be about migratory birds instead. So for all we know that exhibit was at one point meant to be a prairie chicken exhibit a la Brookfield.
 
TheImmigrant1 said:
Full Species List
(* means it’s a species that is signed but not yet on exhibit)
(‘ means it’s a species that is unsigned and not yet on exhibit)
South American Wetlands
1. Chilean Flamingo
2. Boat Billed Heron
3. Wood Stork
4. Southern Lapwing *
5. Crested Quail Dove *
6. Roseate Spoonbill
7. Giant Wood Rail *
8. American White Ibis ‘
9. Black Faces Ibis
10. Scarlet Ibis
11. Puna Teal
12. Brazilian Teal
13. Orinoco Goose *
14. Comb Duck
15. White Faced Whistling Duck
16. Red Shoveler *
17. Argentine Ruddy Duck ‘
18. Black Necked Stilt ‘

African Savanna
1. Grey Crowned Crane
2. Malagasy Sacred Ibis
3. Ruppel’s Griffin Vulture
4. Cape Vulture
5. Hooded Vulture
6. Yellow Billed Stork
7. Blue Billed Teal *
8. Vulturine Guineafowl *
9. African Pygmy Goose *
10. Great Blue Turaco *
11. Maccoa Duck ‘
12. Blue Headed Wood Dove *
13. African Spoonbill
14. Hamerkop
15. Western Plantain Eater *
16. African Wattled Lapwing *
17. Blue Bellied Roller ‘
18. Lilac Breasted Roller’

North American Woodlands
1. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
2. American Robin ‘
3. American Goldfinch ‘
4. Gray Catbird
5. Mourning Dove ‘
6. Cedar Waxwing ‘
7. Blue Grosbeak
8. Northern Bobwhite
9. House Finch
10. Eastern Screech Owl ‘
11. Blue Jay
12. Downy Woodpecker ‘
13. Red Bellied Woodpecker ‘
14. Painted Bunting
15. Northern Cardinal
16. Baltimore Oriole
17. Indigo Bunting
18. White Crowned Sparrow
19. Wood Thrush
20-22 ‘ Species I have not gotten information about yet but who have respective empty signs.

If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them as well.
Click to expand...
Are there any changes in the way of additonal species not mentioned on this list or species that have now been placed on-exhibit?
 
Only a few, every species here is either already behind the scenes, in the works of being acquired or planned. Basically, every South American bird is already in the aviary except for the Crested Quail Dove and the Black Necked Stilts. The latter will not be going into the aviary as it turns out, they can fit through the mesh. As for Africa, we currently have Great Blue behind the scenes and are in the process of receiving a Vulturine Guineafowl trio, Blue Bellied Rollers and Lilac Breasted Rollers. These three will all be introduced before any waterfowl, which reminds me we are not adding Maccoa Duck anymore. Finally, North America is the most inconsistent by far, since they are all native species we're either forced to wait for another confiscation or trade with other zoos. For example, I believe it is Colombus who currently has American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing that we want, and we have Painted Bunting that they want. But neither zoo is willing to give up the species without the other in exchange, so until we start breeding and trading them, we won't be getting them unless a confiscation gives them to us.
 
TheImmigrant1 said:
Only a few, every species here is either already behind the scenes, in the works of being acquired or planned. Basically, every South American bird is already in the aviary except for the Crested Quail Dove and the Black Necked Stilts. The latter will not be going into the aviary as it turns out, they can fit through the mesh. As for Africa, we currently have Great Blue behind the scenes and are in the process of receiving a Vulturine Guineafowl trio, Blue Bellied Rollers and Lilac Breasted Rollers. These three will all be introduced before any waterfowl, which reminds me we are not adding Maccoa Duck anymore. Finally, North America is the most inconsistent by far, since they are all native species we're either forced to wait for another confiscation or trade with other zoos. For example, I believe it is Colombus who currently has American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing that we want, and we have Painted Bunting that they want. But neither zoo is willing to give up the species without the other in exchange, so until we start breeding and trading them, we won't be getting them unless a confiscation gives them to us.
Click to expand...
Are the woodpeckers on exhibit yet?
 
A few questions:
What happened with the Maccoa ducks? They're one of my favorite species so I was excited to see them listed.

How many crested quail-doves will be in the aviary? Are they at the zoo?

Where are the lilac-breasted rollers coming from?

When will the plantain-eaters, wood doves, and lapwings be added?

Which species in the Africa aviary does the zoo intend to breed?
 
wild boar said:
A few questions:
What happened with the Maccoa ducks? They're one of my favorite species so I was excited to see them listed.

How many crested quail-doves will be in the aviary? Are they at the zoo?

Where are the lilac-breasted rollers coming from?

When will the plantain-eaters, wood doves, and lapwings be added?

Which species in the Africa aviary does the zoo intend to breed?
Click to expand...


The Maccoa ducks didn’t do well with the small amount of water in the African aviary. They simply were not thriving.

I believe we’ll get just a pair of doves to start off with. They are not yet at the zoo.

Lilac Breasted Rollers are coming from somewhere in Europe, I was not given specifics.

Those birds will most likely be added after the waterfowl. I haven’t heard a single thing about them.

And just about every species in the aviary is planned to be bred.
 
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