Walk through Aviary

Is there a south american walk through in the uk with small passerines? I cant think of one. There are some in europe which are excellent, from the ones ive seen so far wuppertal would be the best.
 
There is quite a large walk-through at Paignton, called the Brook Side aviary - just turn right at the main entrance. It is rather different from the others mentioned here as the netting is basically slung around the trees in fairly mature woodland, so there is not a great deal of landscaping or even ground cover. The birds are not too exciting, at first sight they seem to be almost exclusively spotted pigeons and Madagascar teal, but I also spotted some other waterfowl, including black-necked swans, and a bare-faced currasow. Lengthy observation at a quiet time would probably reveal more :).
The desert house (mentioned by Chlidonias & Maguari) is linked to the reptile house and a sort of buffer zone between them, both have free-flying tropical birds (including species like emerald starlings, speckled mousebirds, chestnut-backed thrushes, roulroul partridges and crested ground/mountain witch doves).

Alan
 
Well I quite enjoyed my visit to The Living Rainforest and found it easy to photograph various birds.
 
Gentlelemur: do you realise how exciting it was to see the first Madagascar Teal [apparently boring for you] when Durrell first brought them over not many years ago? None had been seen in Europe for decades since the solitary female that lived at Cleres between the wars.
All these netted aviaries in the UK are dependent on the goodwill of the local squirrels. There have been a lot more species in the Brookside Aviary at Paignton over the years, at least some of which [unless I'm very much mistaken] actually got out through squirrel holes.
Anyway, what's wrong with a nice colony of Speckled pigeons?
Paignton Zoo has always been one of the 'greats' and just gets better; although I rather miss Whitley's old Tropical & Sub-tropical Houses.
 
FBBird said:
Gentlelemur: do you realise how exciting it was to see the first Madagascar Teal [apparently boring for you] when Durrell first brought them over not many years ago?
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Yes yes yes.

They are lovely birds and I have a couple of photos of them in the gallery. But at first sight, a large aviary which apparently only contains two species, that are now quite common in UK zoos, is a little disappointing. Part of the problem is that the path is busy with people on their way to the lions and tigers or heading out of the zoo (via the giftshop of course). It is not easy to stop and watch the birds without interruption.
I am a member at Paignton and I enjoy my visits there - but I do not switch off my critical faculties while I am there ;)

Alan
 
species8514 said:
Has anyone been to this place? it doesnt look too big, but then it's hard to tell from the web site..

Walk through Aviary | Perching Birds | Norfolk Wildlife Park | Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens | Yarmouth | Norfolk
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Its not always easy to tell from their site which species remain but, without having visited recently, the linked page suggests they have re-stocked the walk-through aviary with smaller perching species, perhaps also with the Blyth's hornbills from the forest house. Until recently, the Thrigby walk-through was ibis, egrets, and the only breeding group of painted storks in the UK. I think in recent years these birds became a single pair, so perhaps unfortunately they have died out? Does anyone on here know?
 
No one's mentioned the Blackburn pavilion at London Zoo which isn't quite an aviary, but a walkthrough where you can get really close to loads of birds, like turacos (my favourite) and hooded pittas, purple glossy starlings, white eyes, bulbuls, and the endangered socorro dove amongst many others. Well worth a visit, excellent for photos.
 
I've been a few times to the Blackburn pavilion - it is nice, but I found it quite small, and the way it's laid out makes it hard to stop and take photos, as you tend to get swept away by the other tourists. What wouldnt I give for Zoo's to have one day of the year set aside for adults only....

I have just come back from Twycross, they had a small but nice little finch aviary. I really liked the zoo, very modern and clean - mostly primates, but they are currently working on extending this out to include lions and other large cats. Mind you I have to question what the point of having cats is, given that they sleep pretty much the whole time (and before anyone says anything I'm all for cat conservation, I donate, etc.) - but lets face it, they are lazy quadrupeds.. especially mine at home!

What was interesting was that Gentle Lemur's comment about having a large enclosure with only a couple of birds held true in their Borneo Walkway. One of the species was a cormorant, which funnily enough was one species I DIDNT see when I went to Borneo - but there you go...
 
species8514 said:
I have just come back from Twycross, they had a small but nice little finch aviary. I really liked the zoo, very modern and clean - mostly primates, but they are currently working on extending this out. What was interesting was that Gentle Lemur's comment about having a large enclosure with only a couple of birds held true in their Borneo Walkway. One of the species was a cormorant, which funnily enough was one species I DIDNT see when I went to Borneo - but there you go...
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Almost none of the birds in that aviary are actually from Borneo - although the cormorants are closer than a lot of them (Madagascar Teal, for one!).
 
species8514 said:
I've been a few times to the Blackburn pavilion - it is nice, but I found it quite small, and the way it's laid out makes it hard to stop and take photos, as you tend to get swept away by the other tourists.

I have just come back from Twycross, they had a small but nice little finch aviary. I really liked the zoo, very modern and clean - mostly primates, but they are currently working on extending this out. What was interesting was that Gentle Lemur's comment about having a large enclosure with only a couple of birds held true in their Borneo Walkway. One of the species was a cormorant, which funnily enough was one species I DIDNT see when I went to Borneo - but there you go...
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In that aviary, I would be amazed if you DID see a species that you saw in Borneo, as for a Bornean aviary I think there was one species native to the island and one rare vagrant the last time we counted.
 
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