A Passerine a Day Makes a Happy Jay- Summer Travels Thread
- Thread starter jayjds2
- Start date
Sorry for the long delay in posting! I imagine the rest of the thread will be sparsely posted, as I have a busy schedule for the foreseeable future. Hope you enjoy reading!
Down in the Pitts(burgh)
Zoo 1: National Aviary
Size of zoo: ?
Time spent: 5 hours
I entered this facility with an expectation for a substandard, outdated bunch of exhibits, unsuitable for the 'national' moniker that it so gallantly bears. This was based on the older reviews left by other zoochatters, though clearly in recent years the facility has soared in quality (pun intended).
The three walk-through exhibits were excellent. Grasslands was the first I encountered, and it was a small, almost cramped room home to many varieties of finch and similar birds, as well as a feisty bobwhite quail. The room is pleasant when empty, as their joyful songs fill the space. Next is Wetlands, which I believe occupies the entire space that was the original building when it opened. It is a tall and spacious building, and I noticed a unique feature during my visit: it can rain in there. Sure enough, 2-3 times during my visit, it began to pour lightly (not on the visitor path, just on the area the birds were). The collection in the room is very nice as well: black-faced tanager, giant cowbird, and screaming piha were among the highlights. Last up was Rainforest, and like the previous two, it was ahered to biome, rather than continent. The tree canopy, sprawling over the visitor path, is lush and thick, and as such, the room was actually quite dark on the cloudy day I visited. Once again, the collection impressed: black-headed gonolek, purple-throated fruitcrow, and southern bald ibis were particularly nice.
Even if I did get pooped on while looking for the particularly bedraggled cowbird, I immensely enjoyed my visit to the facility. Besides, I got a free button for that. Individual exhibits were all up to the quality of the walk-throughs, the food was nice and cheap, and it had a nice, polished feel to it. The only gripe I have is about the bird shows. First, they cost $5 a person, on top of admission. The outdoor show wasn't available, but I did attend the indoor show, only to find they didn't permit photography in it. I imagine there was a reason for the this, but I got a bit disgruntled when a palm nut vulture, augur buzzard, and silver gulls flew by, only for me to have no record.
Zoo 2: Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
Size of zoo: 77 acres
Time spent: 5.5 hours
This time, an average facility lived up to its reputation. Many exhibits were small or unsuitable for their residents (in particular, the Tropical Forest primate exhibits were poor) and I failed to see any exhibits that even stood out as good. Additionally, this zoo's collection was mostly dismal. I can understand having a mammal focus (as they truly are, in most cases, the crowd pleasers) but having only seven(?) species of bird on exhibit is unacceptable. There were no more than fifteen reptiles species and I only noted one species of amphibian in the whole zoo. For a major city's primary zoo, it sure is disappointing on those fronts. The only collections it seemed to excel in were marine mammals and fish, both owing to the fact it has a more major aquarium than most other facilities. The selection of marine mammals included polar bears, northern sea otters (frustratingly off exhibit), and California sea lions. Oh, and a northern elephant seal. Surely that'll make someone jealous.
The aquarium was something to particularly note; as it's larger than that in many other zoo/aquarium combos: two floors, and stocked with rather unusual species. There was the usual larger Amazon tank (today home to arapaimas and other common species, but 15 years ago, it had America's last river dolphin), several smaller tanks, and then into the saltwater portion. The saltwater portion has an odd error: the visitor portion is not air conditioned, so the tanks were almost un-viewable due to condensation. This was really annoying as some tanks I could not view at all! Hopefully it was a temporary AC break and not a permanent thing.
The newest parts of the zoo are Islands and Jungle Odyssey. Jungle Odyssey might better be renamed to Suburb Simulator 2017, with its mowed lawns and pristine (well, until the muddy capybara sat in one) pools. There was no jungle; perhaps visitors are on an odyssey to look for one? I will say, though, it has the best ocelot exhibit I've ever seen; not the largest, but certainly one of the lushest with the most climbing opportunities. Beyond that, though, this new complex was a bit disappointing. Most of the enclosures were suitable, at least, but the complex fails to simulate what it is named for. Islands, which opened previously, had a nice siamang exhibit, for what it was, but the adjunct enclosures for Philippine crocodile, Visayan warty pig, and clouded leopard, were small and disappointing. Hopefully the next development is more exciting.
The rest of the zoo is fairly average as well. Most savanna exhibits were fine, though elephants were (as usual) small and the "main" exhibit with a total of two giraffes and two zebras in a dirt paddock. Tropical Forest, a primate complex, was a lot of indoor-only primates (blue monkeys, Angolan colobus, orangutan, you name it) and a fairly average outdoor gorilla exhibit. Forest Passage and Kids Kingdom were standard, average exhibits for a number of species. Nothing stood out particularly. There was a nice walkthrough aviary in the Kingdom, with one flaw: it was empty.
The unfortunate standard of exhibitry at this zoo was average. More things stood out as bad than good, but most exhibits didn’t stand out at all. The master plan sounds promising, but so did Islands and Jungle Odyssey. After recent controversy following the death of an elephant calf after a premature birth, as well as previous events, the zoo does not entirely have support from the people of Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to follow its future development.
Pittsburgh Trip Summary
Number of new zoos visited: 2
Revisits: 0
Highlight species: northern elephant seal, giant cowbird, screaming piha, etc
Passerine count
: 11
Next stop: New York
Down in the Pitts(burgh)
Zoo 1: National Aviary
Size of zoo: ?
Time spent: 5 hours
I entered this facility with an expectation for a substandard, outdated bunch of exhibits, unsuitable for the 'national' moniker that it so gallantly bears. This was based on the older reviews left by other zoochatters, though clearly in recent years the facility has soared in quality (pun intended).
The three walk-through exhibits were excellent. Grasslands was the first I encountered, and it was a small, almost cramped room home to many varieties of finch and similar birds, as well as a feisty bobwhite quail. The room is pleasant when empty, as their joyful songs fill the space. Next is Wetlands, which I believe occupies the entire space that was the original building when it opened. It is a tall and spacious building, and I noticed a unique feature during my visit: it can rain in there. Sure enough, 2-3 times during my visit, it began to pour lightly (not on the visitor path, just on the area the birds were). The collection in the room is very nice as well: black-faced tanager, giant cowbird, and screaming piha were among the highlights. Last up was Rainforest, and like the previous two, it was ahered to biome, rather than continent. The tree canopy, sprawling over the visitor path, is lush and thick, and as such, the room was actually quite dark on the cloudy day I visited. Once again, the collection impressed: black-headed gonolek, purple-throated fruitcrow, and southern bald ibis were particularly nice.
Even if I did get pooped on while looking for the particularly bedraggled cowbird, I immensely enjoyed my visit to the facility. Besides, I got a free button for that. Individual exhibits were all up to the quality of the walk-throughs, the food was nice and cheap, and it had a nice, polished feel to it. The only gripe I have is about the bird shows. First, they cost $5 a person, on top of admission. The outdoor show wasn't available, but I did attend the indoor show, only to find they didn't permit photography in it. I imagine there was a reason for the this, but I got a bit disgruntled when a palm nut vulture, augur buzzard, and silver gulls flew by, only for me to have no record.
Zoo 2: Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
Size of zoo: 77 acres
Time spent: 5.5 hours
This time, an average facility lived up to its reputation. Many exhibits were small or unsuitable for their residents (in particular, the Tropical Forest primate exhibits were poor) and I failed to see any exhibits that even stood out as good. Additionally, this zoo's collection was mostly dismal. I can understand having a mammal focus (as they truly are, in most cases, the crowd pleasers) but having only seven(?) species of bird on exhibit is unacceptable. There were no more than fifteen reptiles species and I only noted one species of amphibian in the whole zoo. For a major city's primary zoo, it sure is disappointing on those fronts. The only collections it seemed to excel in were marine mammals and fish, both owing to the fact it has a more major aquarium than most other facilities. The selection of marine mammals included polar bears, northern sea otters (frustratingly off exhibit), and California sea lions. Oh, and a northern elephant seal. Surely that'll make someone jealous.
The aquarium was something to particularly note; as it's larger than that in many other zoo/aquarium combos: two floors, and stocked with rather unusual species. There was the usual larger Amazon tank (today home to arapaimas and other common species, but 15 years ago, it had America's last river dolphin), several smaller tanks, and then into the saltwater portion. The saltwater portion has an odd error: the visitor portion is not air conditioned, so the tanks were almost un-viewable due to condensation. This was really annoying as some tanks I could not view at all! Hopefully it was a temporary AC break and not a permanent thing.
The newest parts of the zoo are Islands and Jungle Odyssey. Jungle Odyssey might better be renamed to Suburb Simulator 2017, with its mowed lawns and pristine (well, until the muddy capybara sat in one) pools. There was no jungle; perhaps visitors are on an odyssey to look for one? I will say, though, it has the best ocelot exhibit I've ever seen; not the largest, but certainly one of the lushest with the most climbing opportunities. Beyond that, though, this new complex was a bit disappointing. Most of the enclosures were suitable, at least, but the complex fails to simulate what it is named for. Islands, which opened previously, had a nice siamang exhibit, for what it was, but the adjunct enclosures for Philippine crocodile, Visayan warty pig, and clouded leopard, were small and disappointing. Hopefully the next development is more exciting.
The rest of the zoo is fairly average as well. Most savanna exhibits were fine, though elephants were (as usual) small and the "main" exhibit with a total of two giraffes and two zebras in a dirt paddock. Tropical Forest, a primate complex, was a lot of indoor-only primates (blue monkeys, Angolan colobus, orangutan, you name it) and a fairly average outdoor gorilla exhibit. Forest Passage and Kids Kingdom were standard, average exhibits for a number of species. Nothing stood out particularly. There was a nice walkthrough aviary in the Kingdom, with one flaw: it was empty.
The unfortunate standard of exhibitry at this zoo was average. More things stood out as bad than good, but most exhibits didn’t stand out at all. The master plan sounds promising, but so did Islands and Jungle Odyssey. After recent controversy following the death of an elephant calf after a premature birth, as well as previous events, the zoo does not entirely have support from the people of Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to follow its future development.
Pittsburgh Trip Summary
Number of new zoos visited: 2
Revisits: 0
Highlight species: northern elephant seal, giant cowbird, screaming piha, etc
Passerine count
: 11Next stop: New York
I thought it must be a mistake as well - Pittsburgh zoo species list 2017
Gentoo and macaroni penguin, ostrich, American flamingo, black swan, and an owl I've now forgotten the species of were all I remember seeing. There were signs for silvery-cheeked hornbill but I do not know whether the zoo actually has the species.
Well then...
I also love how they have the most generic taste in species, ostrich, flamingo, penguin, swan, owl and hornbill.
