zooboy28
Well-Known Member
I visited Ballarat Bird World last month, and thought an update on CGSwans previous 2011 review (http://www.zoochat.com/24/ballarat-wildlife-park-ballarat-bird-world-198224/) might be interesting.
The bird park is located in the hills surrounding Ballarat, and is basically just a small collection of aviaries containing mostly native parrots. Entrance is through a small building, with a small cafe and gift shop, and a outdoor verandah with tree top views. There are lots of wild birds around, and its quite a nice location for a bird park. From the entrance, a boardwalk takes you through the bush, past a large pond and a series of waterfalls (which weren't flowing at all on my visit, apparently the area is in drought at present).
At the end of the boardwalk are the aviaries. These include an initial row of ~8 aviaries up a ramp into the main complex, a large aviary at the top, the main row of ~20 aviaries, and the very large walkthrough aviary at the end. Apart from the walk-through, all aviaries are barren concrete and mesh cages, that are extremely functional and in all cases too small. After these aviaries, the path loops back around to the entrance.
The collection is mostly pairs or small groups of native parrots, usually one species per cage. The larger aviary contains a friendly pair of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, which we were allowed to interact with when the owner let us in to their aviary. The walk-through aviary is substantial, with a large amount of room for the relatively small number of birds (mostly Cockatiels) within. It includes a nice amount of vegetation. Apparently this aviary was closed for a number of years, after the mesh was damaged, and it took a while to get it all replaced. The owner said it had only reopened in the last few months, and was not yet fully stocked.
The collection itself consisted of 30 bird species, mostly Australian Parrots. There was just one non-parrot species, the Spotted Dove, and two exotic parrots, Alexandrine and Plum-headed Parakeets. A number of the native species are rarely displayed in Australian zoos (although most/all are common in the pet trade), and so I saw five species for the first time, including several Rosella species.
Overall, the collection is small but interesting, and I enjoyed my visit. Unfortunately, only the walk-through aviary is a nice exhibit, and the others need to be renovated to bring Bird World up to modern standards. Knocking pairs of aviaries together to create more space, and adding some more natural features to them, would be a great improvement. Adding additional exhibits, for example for Emu and waterfowl, would also improve the completeness of the collection, while a couple of token mammals, e.g. Koala and Wallabies would allow the park to really compete for tourists (especially international tourists) in Ballarat.
Species on Display (May 2015):
Cockatiel
Short-billed Corella
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
White-tailed Black Cockatoo
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Elegant Parrot*
Bourke’s Parrot
Hooded Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Turquoise Parrot
Eclectus Parrot
Superb Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Princess Parrot
Regent Parrot
King Parrot
Cloncurry Parrot*
Northern Rosella*
Pale-headed Rosella*
Yellow Rosella*
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella
Rainbow Lorikeet
Plum-headed Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
Barbary Dove
The bird park is located in the hills surrounding Ballarat, and is basically just a small collection of aviaries containing mostly native parrots. Entrance is through a small building, with a small cafe and gift shop, and a outdoor verandah with tree top views. There are lots of wild birds around, and its quite a nice location for a bird park. From the entrance, a boardwalk takes you through the bush, past a large pond and a series of waterfalls (which weren't flowing at all on my visit, apparently the area is in drought at present).
At the end of the boardwalk are the aviaries. These include an initial row of ~8 aviaries up a ramp into the main complex, a large aviary at the top, the main row of ~20 aviaries, and the very large walkthrough aviary at the end. Apart from the walk-through, all aviaries are barren concrete and mesh cages, that are extremely functional and in all cases too small. After these aviaries, the path loops back around to the entrance.
The collection is mostly pairs or small groups of native parrots, usually one species per cage. The larger aviary contains a friendly pair of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, which we were allowed to interact with when the owner let us in to their aviary. The walk-through aviary is substantial, with a large amount of room for the relatively small number of birds (mostly Cockatiels) within. It includes a nice amount of vegetation. Apparently this aviary was closed for a number of years, after the mesh was damaged, and it took a while to get it all replaced. The owner said it had only reopened in the last few months, and was not yet fully stocked.
The collection itself consisted of 30 bird species, mostly Australian Parrots. There was just one non-parrot species, the Spotted Dove, and two exotic parrots, Alexandrine and Plum-headed Parakeets. A number of the native species are rarely displayed in Australian zoos (although most/all are common in the pet trade), and so I saw five species for the first time, including several Rosella species.
Overall, the collection is small but interesting, and I enjoyed my visit. Unfortunately, only the walk-through aviary is a nice exhibit, and the others need to be renovated to bring Bird World up to modern standards. Knocking pairs of aviaries together to create more space, and adding some more natural features to them, would be a great improvement. Adding additional exhibits, for example for Emu and waterfowl, would also improve the completeness of the collection, while a couple of token mammals, e.g. Koala and Wallabies would allow the park to really compete for tourists (especially international tourists) in Ballarat.
Species on Display (May 2015):
Cockatiel
Short-billed Corella
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
White-tailed Black Cockatoo
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Elegant Parrot*
Bourke’s Parrot
Hooded Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Turquoise Parrot
Eclectus Parrot
Superb Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Princess Parrot
Regent Parrot
King Parrot
Cloncurry Parrot*
Northern Rosella*
Pale-headed Rosella*
Yellow Rosella*
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella
Rainbow Lorikeet
Plum-headed Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
Barbary Dove
