Parrot House at Darmstadt, 30/08/10

Two large flights with huge viewing windows, but not terribly attractive (though of course that\'s not unusual for parrot aviaries).

Maguari said:

Two large flights with huge viewing windows, but not terribly attractive (though of course that\'s not unusual for parrot aviaries).

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Have you ever seen a really great parrot exhibit in any zoo? Usually they seem to be stuck on perches on small islands or in ugly smallish aviaries unbecoming of the beautiful birds that they are.

DavidBrown said:

Have you ever seen a really great parrot exhibit in any zoo? Usually they seem to be stuck on perches on small islands or in ugly smallish aviaries unbecoming of the beautiful birds that they are.

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Luckily the 'macaw-on-a-stick' approach is very much in decline in Europe; the 'not-very-attractive-aviary-but-better-than-being-on-a-stick' approach is the standard.

The better parrot exhibits I've seen have tended to be big mixed flights (http://www.zoochat.com/166/dierenpark-rhenen-2004-large-aviary-130829/, http://www.zoochat.com/671/katandra-treetops-loro-parque-08-11-a-188194/) but otherwise it's hard to come up with too many that aren't variants on that pattern. Chester's Blue-throated and Hyacinthine Macaw aviaries are quite nice; still pretty standard aviaries but aesthetically much nicer than usual.

Maguari said:

Luckily the 'macaw-on-a-stick' approach is very much in decline in Europe; the 'not-very-attractive-aviary-but-better-than-being-on-a-stick' approach is the standard.

The better parrot exhibits I've seen have tended to be big mixed flights (http://www.zoochat.com/166/dierenpark-rhenen-2004-large-aviary-130829/, http://www.zoochat.com/671/katandra-treetops-loro-parque-08-11-a-188194/) but otherwise it's hard to come up with too many that aren't variants on that pattern. Chester's Blue-throated and Hyacinthine Macaw aviaries are quite nice; still pretty standard aviaries but aesthetically much nicer than usual.

Click to expand...

I love the diagnosis of the parrot display technique as "macaw-on-a-stick" - so true.

The best display of zoo parrots that I have seen now that I think about it is at the LA Zoo bird show of all places. There is a segment where they release a flock of macaws at the top of the hill and they fly down and circle the show arena several times before landing on the stage area. It is truly spectacular watching them fly around and listening to them vocalize as they swoop around. The revelation of how spectacular they are is like seeing hippos move underwater for the first time after only seeing them from above as blobs in a tub.