@Summer Tanager Opening day I remember the little black rails running around in the back and the ringed teal splashing around. Also recall seeing Bali Mynah and red crested turaco in the trees. In the old birdhouse birds would often get out of the exhibits and be in spots they weren't supposed to be. Like for example roadrunner in the desert would climb out and often times get into the swamp.
I wish I had made a trip to South Carolina some time in the 80s or 90s to see the bird house. It sounds like it held a great diversity of birds and was an outstanding collection. I think that the Zoo still has a great bird collection, but I know it's substantially smaller now (which seems to be an unfortunate trend in bird collections).
@Summer Tanager True but the collection dwindled over the years. The collection in the 70s was UNMATCHED today in it's diversity. 10 plus species of parrots ,5 Macaw Species, almost 10 species of toucan at once but the zoo has had over 20 over the years. Plus Crows,Jays, and the big open fronted eco system enclosures which held birds along with monkeys, reptiles etc. The main draw on opening day was the Python exhibit which was in the birdhouse ironically.
