Overview
Ballarat Bird World is a very small facility located in the suburb of Mount Helen about ten to fifteen minutes drive out of the city of Ballarat. The property is set on bushland and is only open four days of the week on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and is also open on public holidays (except Christmas) and on Victorian school holidays. In addition to the extensive collection of birds, mostly parrots; there is also a trout pond where you can feed trout, animatronic dinosaurs, a maze and a small mini-golf course. Admission is $20 for an adult and $18 for concession which is a reasonable but not overly cheap or expensive price for the overall experience. Additionally, a photo opportunity and feeding of a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo can be had for an additional $15 dollars.
Walkthrough and Review
Entering the facility is through the cafe which has a nice homey feeling, after paying admission I set out on the boardwalk where there’s many wild birds that are attracted by some of the fruit the staff lay out, amongst those are Pied Currawongs, Australian King Parrots, Laughing Kookaburras and Crimson Rosellas.
Heading past the maze and the mini golf course is the first row of aviaries. This first set are very long but narrow and are for smaller parrots, the concrete seems to be decent condition and I didn’t notice any issues with the wiring. Some of the species displayed here include Hooded Parrot, Golden-shouldered Parrot, Red-rumped Parrot, Scarlet-chested Parrot, Sun Conure, Monk Parakeet, Turquoise Parrot, Plum-headed Parrot and Elegant Parrot.
The main row of aviaries has a large variety of larger parrots including cockatoos, many of the birds here are surrendered pets which is why there are many repeats; some of the species displayed here include Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Fire-crested (Pink) Cockatoo, Alexandrine Parrot, Blue-fronted Amazon, Superb Parrot, Princess Parrot, Barbary Dove, Jenday Conure, Eastern Rosella and more.
Additionally there's also a large free flight aviary which is well planted and quite a nice exhibit, it has Pacific Emerald Dove, Wonga Pigeon (that wouldn’t shut up), Red-capped Parrot, Mulga Parrot and Superb Parrot.
After checking out the aviaries, I had the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo photo opportunity, the bird was quite friendly and landed onto my shoulder without causing any damage to the skin, the keeper mentioned that they had bred a whopping twenty Wonga Pigeons in the previous year. Afterward we were handed some nuts to feed to the cockatoos in the nearby aviaries, initially I was hesitant as Cockatoos can cause severe damage to a finger but these birds were clearly well-trained and used to it and took the nuts very gently.
After exiting the aviary complex there isn’t much left to do, there is however, the trout pond with complimentary fish food included with entry. Rainbow Trout, despite being bred en masse for stocking all over the state are not common in zoological facilities and it was quite fun feeding the trout as they zoomed all over the lake.
Overall I had a fun time at Ballarat Bird World, I saw a few new species of birds I’d never seen before and had a lot of fun feeding the trout. It’s not going to blow your mind or anything but will definitely keep you entertained for an hour or so at a reasonable cost for entry.
Birds:
Eastern Rosella
Green Rosella
Crimson (Yellow) Rosella
Pale-headed Rosella
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Fire-crested (Pink) Cockatoo
*Little Corella*
Galah
Rainbow Lorikeet
Red-collared Lorikeet
Red-rumped Parrot
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Hooded Parrot
Mulga Parrot
Elegant Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Turquoise Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Australian King Parrot
Eclectus Parrot sensu lato, probably Mollucan
Red-capped Parrot
Superb Parrot
Princess Parrot
Australian Ringneck (Cloncurry)
Blue-fronted Amazon
Orange-winged Amazon
Sun Conure
Jenday Conure
Monk Parrot
Plum-headed Parrot
Indian Ringneck Parrot
Alexandrine Parrot
Barbary Dove
Wonga Pigeon
Pacific Emerald Dove
Fish:
Rainbow Trout
Ballarat Bird World is a very small facility located in the suburb of Mount Helen about ten to fifteen minutes drive out of the city of Ballarat. The property is set on bushland and is only open four days of the week on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and is also open on public holidays (except Christmas) and on Victorian school holidays. In addition to the extensive collection of birds, mostly parrots; there is also a trout pond where you can feed trout, animatronic dinosaurs, a maze and a small mini-golf course. Admission is $20 for an adult and $18 for concession which is a reasonable but not overly cheap or expensive price for the overall experience. Additionally, a photo opportunity and feeding of a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo can be had for an additional $15 dollars.
Walkthrough and Review
Entering the facility is through the cafe which has a nice homey feeling, after paying admission I set out on the boardwalk where there’s many wild birds that are attracted by some of the fruit the staff lay out, amongst those are Pied Currawongs, Australian King Parrots, Laughing Kookaburras and Crimson Rosellas.
Heading past the maze and the mini golf course is the first row of aviaries. This first set are very long but narrow and are for smaller parrots, the concrete seems to be decent condition and I didn’t notice any issues with the wiring. Some of the species displayed here include Hooded Parrot, Golden-shouldered Parrot, Red-rumped Parrot, Scarlet-chested Parrot, Sun Conure, Monk Parakeet, Turquoise Parrot, Plum-headed Parrot and Elegant Parrot.
The main row of aviaries has a large variety of larger parrots including cockatoos, many of the birds here are surrendered pets which is why there are many repeats; some of the species displayed here include Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Fire-crested (Pink) Cockatoo, Alexandrine Parrot, Blue-fronted Amazon, Superb Parrot, Princess Parrot, Barbary Dove, Jenday Conure, Eastern Rosella and more.
Additionally there's also a large free flight aviary which is well planted and quite a nice exhibit, it has Pacific Emerald Dove, Wonga Pigeon (that wouldn’t shut up), Red-capped Parrot, Mulga Parrot and Superb Parrot.
After checking out the aviaries, I had the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo photo opportunity, the bird was quite friendly and landed onto my shoulder without causing any damage to the skin, the keeper mentioned that they had bred a whopping twenty Wonga Pigeons in the previous year. Afterward we were handed some nuts to feed to the cockatoos in the nearby aviaries, initially I was hesitant as Cockatoos can cause severe damage to a finger but these birds were clearly well-trained and used to it and took the nuts very gently.
After exiting the aviary complex there isn’t much left to do, there is however, the trout pond with complimentary fish food included with entry. Rainbow Trout, despite being bred en masse for stocking all over the state are not common in zoological facilities and it was quite fun feeding the trout as they zoomed all over the lake.
Overall I had a fun time at Ballarat Bird World, I saw a few new species of birds I’d never seen before and had a lot of fun feeding the trout. It’s not going to blow your mind or anything but will definitely keep you entertained for an hour or so at a reasonable cost for entry.
Birds:
Eastern Rosella
Green Rosella
Crimson (Yellow) Rosella
Pale-headed Rosella
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Fire-crested (Pink) Cockatoo
*Little Corella*
Galah
Rainbow Lorikeet
Red-collared Lorikeet
Red-rumped Parrot
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Hooded Parrot
Mulga Parrot
Elegant Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Turquoise Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Australian King Parrot
Eclectus Parrot sensu lato, probably Mollucan
Red-capped Parrot
Superb Parrot
Princess Parrot
Australian Ringneck (Cloncurry)
Blue-fronted Amazon
Orange-winged Amazon
Sun Conure
Jenday Conure
Monk Parrot
Plum-headed Parrot
Indian Ringneck Parrot
Alexandrine Parrot
Barbary Dove
Wonga Pigeon
Pacific Emerald Dove
Fish:
Rainbow Trout
