This historic structure was almost fully complete by 1927 and all of the indoor aviaries were basically finished by the end of 1926. Astonishingly the zoo had almost 500 birds by the time it opened on August 1st, 1928, along with a staggering 30 bears (12 of which were polar bears), 12 wolverines, 10 lions, 50 raccoons and various other critters.
Information obtained from:
(The First Fifty Years - 1974 History Book written by William A. Austin)
In the early 1960's the Bird House actually held a pair of Tasmanian devils! Crazy but true, and the zoo also had a single pangolin in the Reptile House around the same time.
