@snowleopard No clue, I've never really tried to ID all of the fish in there; @Coelacanth18 might have a better idea. Less than they used to have, anyway, as they're down to just a couple of species of birds, and the primates are either all or almost all gone. A shame! I really like this building and its architecture. This batch of uploads focused on less-photographed areas of the zoo, winter shots that show more of exhibits without all the vegetation, and popular areas without people getting in the way of the photos.
@snowleopard At the time these photos were taken the main Amazonia section had ~55 species, of which ~40 were fish. There should be half a dozen species of birds, a small number of reptiles, and free-roaming dart frogs nobody sees. There is a rarely seen sloth in the free-flight area, and historically there's been one or two species of small monkey as well - although from what I've gathered there may not be anymore. @Andrew_NZP still visits regularly, he'd be the one to ask at this point since I haven't been recently. There's also guinea pigs and over a dozen amphibians kept in a different part of the building, which I see @TinoPup has also uploaded photos of.
On my most recent visit these were the species I saw in the free-flight rainforest section:
Birds:
Roseate spoonbill
Scarlet ibis
Hawk-headed parrot
Green aracari
Yellow-rumped Cacique
Ringed teal (Tend to to see this one hanging out by the stingray area, but I believe they can fly and access the rest of the area)
Reptiles:
Red-footed tortoise
No more primates in Amazonia, I believe for covid related reasons. Henderson the last white-eared titi monkey was sent to another facility and the emperor tamarins are now found in the Small Mammal House.
Thanks everyone for the great responses! That's really disappointing that there's no more primates in Amazonia and only a few birds. It appears that fish are the dominant creatures in what was once a more extensive overview of South American biodiversity.
Amazonia is a very conflicting exhibit for me. I'd argue its the hidden gem of the Smithsonian National Zoo, with the stingray pool area giving off a good first impression to visitors. That leads to the area you see in the photo which I think is really nice and then the electric eel portion which is enjoyable but the rest of that room is basically just some fish tanks on some tables (and unless there's something I'm missing about their husbandry needs the matamata and the rainbow boa tanks are some of the worst in the zoo in my opinion).
The guinea pig display is nice even if it isn't the most exciting to zoo nerds and the science gallery and coral lab area I really love, especially with all the amphibians (probably well over a dozen species on display, potentially more). But then there's the walkthrough rainforest portion which should be the main attraction of the building, and maybe to a person who only makes a visit once a year or once every few years it is. But personally I can't help but always be disappointed by it. It just feels so empty, with no more primates, a sloth you'll see once a millennium, a tortoise that 90% of visitors probably never notice and yeah I like the birds but there just isn't that many of them anymore, and depending on how you enter the zoo three of them are repeats (roseate spoonbill and scarlet ibis are both found at the Bird House, and a green aracari is found the Small Mammal House, though I can't argue this area is probably the best exhibit for all three). I've heard there's some frogs in there but there's no signage for the area and I've literally never seen any. I really hope some kind of primate is able to return and more birds can be added to that area in the future to really help liven the area up. But until that happens I fear I'll just continue to be consistently disappointed each visit.
@Andrew_NZP I appreciate the review of Amazonia and it seems that adding some small primates and birds (and even an extra sloth!) would be an easy fix.
There used to be smaller birds like cardinals and tanagers, but I never saw them. At least the birds in there now are nearly always visible. I wonder if there was a reason they shifted towards larger and bolder species - maybe small birds hide too easily, or become stressed/threatened by the newer parrots?
@Andrew_NZP You can count me among that 90% who don't notice the tortoise I have it in the species list yet I have no memory of ever seeing one. Where are they?
Yeah I admit most of my disappointment stems from the lack of any primates nowadays, most of the birds being repeat species from other areas of the zoo, but I will say it is nice that they're mostly larger birds and easy to find (though there was a scarlet macaw once upon a time which would be neat to see return).
@Andrew_NZP I'll have to remember to look there next time! I'm usually looking up for primates and birds.
I think being so close to National Aquarium makes this exhibit feel even more empty, too. That place is massive but I always see at least one, if not all, of the sloths, and so many birds. And the tamarins!
