Largest Avaries in Australia and New Zealand?

[Chlidonias]

I think I may have figured it out partly.

The 1984 New Zealand Aviary is listed as having a condition rating of 5 with a replacement cost of $320,759. [a rating scale of 1 to 5 basically runs from 1 being tip-top condition, 5 being unusable]

Further down, under "Assets created or significant renewal since 2007" is listed New Zealand Native Aviary with a date of 2008 and a condition rating of 1.

Both are given the reference WE7.

My supposition is that there was a smaller aviary on the same site (as you surmised earlier) which is the 1984 one, and it or its remains is contained within or next to the 1992 aviary (renovated in 2008). I'm not sure if that is the case but that's what makes most sense to me because the 1984 aviary must still be there in order to appear on the asset list.

 

[zooboy28]

I think I may have figured it out partly.

The 1984 New Zealand Aviary is listed as having a condition rating of 5 with a replacement cost of $320,759. [a rating scale of 1 to 5 basically runs from 1 being tip-top condition, 5 being unusable]

Further down, under "Assets created or significant renewal since 2007" is listed New Zealand Native Aviary with a date of 2008 and a condition rating of 1.

Both are given the reference WE7.

My supposition is that there was a smaller aviary on the same site (as you surmised earlier) which is the 1984 one, and it or its remains is contained within or next to the 1992 aviary (renovated in 2008). I'm not sure if that is the case but that's what makes most sense to me because the 1984 aviary must still be there in order to appear on the asset list.

Yea, I guess if an aviary was built in 1984, and some was retained in the 1992 aviary, then it could be classed as dating from 1984. That would make the most sense. Unless its an error.

 

[zooboy28]

Hamilton Zoo's freeflight aviary is the biggest in NZ, with Auckland's the second largest, and then Orana and Otorohanga (not sure which is larger, would guess Otorohanga, as I don't remember Orana's being particularly large). Otorohanga's website states that their aviary was the largest in Australasia when built in 1986 (possibly usurping Orana?), and remains the largest dome aviary in NZ. Auckland's native walkthrough aviary would have become the largest aviary in NZ when it opened in 1992, and Hamilton would have taken the title in 1997 (and still hold it).

Here is a zoolex description of Hamilton's aviary (ZooLex Exhibit), which reaches 17m tall, covers 3500m, and includes 140m of visitor paths.

Just to add a bit more info, Otorohanga's dome aviary is apparently 18m tall, and 45m across, which gives an area of 1600 square metres (I think), less than half the size of Hamilton. I don't know the area covered by Auckland's aviary, but it is very tall (~12-15m) in relation to its ground area.

Chlidonias, can you give an estimation of Orana's aviary size? I was thinking something in the region of 10 by 20m, but quite low, perhaps 3-4m high?

 

[Chlidonias]

Just to add a bit more info, Otorohanga's dome aviary is apparently 18m tall, and 45m across, which gives an area of 1600 square metres (I think), less than half the size of Hamilton. I don't know the area covered by Auckland's aviary, but it is very tall (~12-15m) in relation to its ground area.

Chlidonias, can you give an estimation of Orana's aviary size? I was thinking something in the region of 10 by 20m, but quite low, perhaps 3-4m high?

I'm terrible at estimating dimensions and I haven't been to Orana for a while, so I just asked someone at the park and the rough measurements are 18m long, 11m wide and 7m high. The construction date was 1994.

Interestingly the walk-through kea aviary at Orana (built 2009) is 20m by 17.6m and has a highest point of 6.8m, and thus is larger than the other walk-through (which is now called the Lowland Aviary to distinguish it from the kea aviary). The kea aviary is really nice, but I hadn't realised it was larger than the other one.

This is a photo of the Lowland Aviary in 1996 (taken from the viewing platform on the raised walkway, about halfway along the aviary): http://www.zoochat.com/101/walk-through-nz-aviary-154327/

This is one of the interior shots of the kea aviary: http://www.zoochat.com/101/interior-walk-through-kea-aviary-147139/

 

[zooboy28]

I'm terrible at estimating dimensions and I haven't been to Orana for a while, so I just asked someone at the park and the rough measurements are 18m long, 11m wide and 7m high. The construction date was 1994.

Interestingly the walk-through kea aviary at Orana (built 2009) is 20m by 17.6m and has a highest point of 6.8m, and thus is larger than the other walk-through (which is now called the Lowland Aviary to distinguish it from the kea aviary). The kea aviary is really nice, but I hadn't realised it was larger than the other one.

This is a photo of the Lowland Aviary in 1996 (taken from the viewing platform on the raised walkway, about halfway along the aviary): http://www.zoochat.com/101/walk-through-nz-aviary-154327/

This is one of the interior shots of the kea aviary: http://www.zoochat.com/101/interior-walk-through-kea-aviary-147139/

I'd forgotten about the kea aviary, and didn't realise the lowland aviary was that tall, maybe that raised walkway confused my height perceptions.

That means that Orana has never had the largest aviary in NZ then, as it never beat Otorohanga's dome. So we can say that the largest have been:

1978 Otorohanga Kiwi House - Dome Aviary (1600 sq m)
1992 Auckland Zoo - New Zealand Native Aviary (? sq m)
1997 Hamilton Zoo - Freeflight Sanctuary (3500 sq m)

Both Otorohanga and Hamilton Zoo considered their aviaries to be the largest in Australasia at the time of opening (according to websites/press).

 

[Chlidonias]

Orana must have the largest in the South Island though. There are other walk-throughs at Willowbank in Christchurch (an alpine aviary and a bush aviary), Timaru (a dome-shaped one at Caroline Bay), Invercargill (at Queens Park) and Natureland (Nelson). Going solely by memory Willowbank's are the largest of that lot, but they are smaller than Orana's two.

(Incidentally, the kea aviary at Orana looks nicer in real life than it does in the photos).

 

[Chlidonias]

what species do they have in Hamilton's free-flight aviary? And do you think it would be a better display with exotics rather than natives (i.e. more scope and colour and numbers)?

When it first opened Orana's Lowland Aviary had a brown bittern, three South Island pied oystercatchers, a pair of Auckland Island teal, maybe some pied stilts (?), and saddleback, native pigeon, kakariki and waxeyes. There were banded rails too but I'm not sure if they were there right from the start. Later they put a fence under the raised walkway to divide the aviary and had a pair of blue duck on one side (I can't remember if the teal were still on the other side or not; the bittern was gone by then too). Later again the blue ducks were removed and at some point the Auckland Island teal were replaced with brown teal. I'm not sure there's any species of duck in there now. Kaka was tried but that didn't work out for some reason. I think there are tui and bellbird in there now as well.

(That's all from memory so the order may not be quite correct).

 

[zooboy28]

what species do they have in Hamilton's free-flight aviary? And do you think it would be a better display with exotics rather than natives (i.e. more scope and colour and numbers)?

When it first opened Orana's Lowland Aviary had a brown bittern, three South Island pied oystercatchers, a pair of Auckland Island teal, maybe some pied stilts (?), and saddleback, native pigeon, kakariki and waxeyes. There were banded rails too but I'm not sure if they were there right from the start. Later they put a fence under the raised walkway to divide the aviary and had a pair of blue duck on one side (I can't remember if the teal were still on the other side or not; the bittern was gone by then too). Later again the blue ducks were removed and at some point the Auckland Island teal were replaced with brown teal. I'm not sure there's any species of duck in there now. Kaka was tried but that didn't work out for some reason. I think there are tui and bellbird in there now as well.

(That's all from memory so the order may not be quite correct).

Hamilton's could potentially look a bit more exciting with exotics, but it is so huge that to fill it up properly (e.g. all the different habitats, ground, water, etc), that the exotics available in NZ wouldn't really make the best use of it, and you would end up needing to use species from different continents to fill it up (e.g. Asian/North American ducks, South American macaws, conures, Asian pheasants, Australian parakeets, African/Australian/Asian finches, etc). There would also be a lack of bird types exhibited, with it basically just being parrots, and a few pheasants, ducks and finches. Which I think would make an awful exhibit.

Current inhabitants of the freeflight sanctuary include White-faced Heron, Grey Teal, Australasian Shoveller, NZ Scaup, Paradise Shelduck (which tend to hsng around the large pond near the exit, which is overlooked by a high viewing platform), Blue Duck (which live in a seperated area, which includes a pond near the top, and the stream and waterfall down towards the main pond), Banded Rail, NZ Wood Pigeon, Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Red-crowned Parakeet, Antipodes Island Parakeet (parakeets are all male), North Island Kaka (one extremely friendly, will sit on shoulders), Sacred Kingfisher, Tui and North Island Kokako. The zoo also has bellbird, but I'm not sure if these are in the aviary or not, recent additions if so. There were previously also oystercatchers. It is a really nice aviary, the plantings are brilliant now, having grown up extremely nicely. All species, except the rail, you are almost guaranteed to see each time, even if you just spend 10-15 mins in there. I will put some photos up in the gallery later.

 

[Chlidonias]

Hamilton's could potentially look a bit more exciting with exotics, but it is so huge that to fill it up properly (e.g. all the different habitats, ground, water, etc), that the exotics available in NZ wouldn't really make the best use of it, and you would end up needing to use species from different continents to fill it up (e.g. Asian/North American ducks, South American macaws, conures, Asian pheasants, Australian parakeets, African/Australian/Asian finches, etc). There would also be a lack of bird types exhibited, with it basically just being parrots, and a few pheasants, ducks and finches. Which I think would make an awful exhibit.

Current inhabitants of the freeflight sanctuary include White-faced Heron, Grey Teal, Australasian Shoveller, NZ Scaup, Paradise Shelduck (which tend to hsng around the large pond near the exit, which is overlooked by a high viewing platform), Blue Duck (which live in a seperated area, which includes a pond near the top, and the stream and waterfall down towards the main pond), Banded Rail, NZ Wood Pigeon, Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Red-crowned Parakeet, Antipodes Island Parakeet (parakeets are all male), North Island Kaka (one extremely friendly, will sit on shoulders), Sacred Kingfisher, Tui and North Island Kokako. The zoo also has bellbird, but I'm not sure if these are in the aviary or not, recent additions if so. There were previously also oystercatchers. It is a really nice aviary, the plantings are brilliant now, having grown up extremely nicely. All species, except the rail, you are almost guaranteed to see each time, even if you just spend 10-15 mins in there. I will put some photos up in the gallery later.

I just found out today (and was a bit surprised by it to tell the truth) that there used to be a North Island brown kiwi in this aviary as well at one point. Seems a bit pointless really. Their future acquisition plans for kiwi include having a breeding pair in this aviary. (As well as a nocturnal display house).

 

[zooboy28]

I just found out today (and was a bit surprised by it to tell the truth) that there used to be a North Island brown kiwi in this aviary as well at one point. Seems a bit pointless really. Their future acquisition plans for kiwi include having a breeding pair in this aviary. (As well as a nocturnal display house).

I didn't know about that, I never saw any signage about it or anything. A rescue bird presumably?