Birdparks of the World

DavidBrown said:
I'm not sure what your definition of a "true bird park" is, but it was a park focused on birds, so in that sense, it was a real bird park. The theme park aspects were closed down and the park reopened as a bird park.
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What is a real bird park? Well, I would say, a park that only or mostly shows birds. This includes Birds of Prey Centers, Waterfowl and Owl Centers, Parrot Parks... Loro Park and Pairi Daiza are definitely no longer bird parks, even though bird husbandry still plays an important role in both parks. Real bird parks have little chance of existing today if they only keep birds, or they offer additional attractions with raptor shows and bird flight shows. Most bird parks now also keep easy-to-maintain mammals, such as meerkats, kangaroos, lemurs, goats, ponies, etc. Are these still bird parks, or are they already animal parks? Where is the limit ? Is Marlow Bird Park still a bird park? They also keep a number of mammals, even Addax antelopes, and have a butterfly house.

I didn't know that buhh gardens in California had turned into a bird park, so I would have to do a little research. In any case, thanks for the hint.
 
Arek said:
Famous Avalon Bird Park on Santa Catalina Island, California. Opened probably in 1929 and closed in 1966. Maybe the world’s largest bird park at the time - more than 500 cages housed up to 8000 birds. Admission was free.
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Thank you for this information, which is very important to me. So far I thought that the Hamburg Bird Park, which emerged from the lost zoo in 1930 but was closed again in 1931, was the first bird park in the world. Avifauna claims to have been the world's first bird park in 1950, but that's not true from start to finish, as Parrot Jungle was opened in Miami in 1936. And now this large bird park on Santa Catalina Island, and that already in 1929. And the park actually managed to exist for almost 40 years. So it is the first time I've heared about this place, very intersting. But I don't think, there could be an older birdpark than that one...
 
Penshet said:
Sylvan Heights comes to mind. I also thought there was one in California, but I can't remember the name.
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Wow, it seems, there are more Birdparks / Aviaries in North America than I thought. But this one was founded by two english boys...


birdsandbats said:
Is the International Crane Foundation not a bird park?
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Without a doubt it is ... just with cranes, but all species. Thanks for the hint.

sooty mangabey said:
They’re mostly pretty tiny and fairly rubbish but there were (are?) an extraordinary number of little bird parks in your neck of the woods, of course, south of Frankfurt.

I've never been to any of them, and in England I know only Birdland. A nice park, nothing special, but not too bad with a great colony of king penguins-year round outdoors.

And I’d swap all of the Stagsdens and Cromers and Padstows - lovely though I’m sure they all were - for one Walsrode...
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Yeah, no bird park will hit Walsrode....Hmm, maybe Jurong Bird park ?;) Never been to this place, so I can't tell, but I guess, Walsrode will hold the throne..for all times.

Which one was the first Bird Park in the UK, Slimbridge maybe , opened in 1947 ?
 
Generally Walsrode is considered number 1, and Jurong number 2 in terms of bird species. However, Jurong is closing to be upgraded to a newer park next to Singapore Zoo, and it will gain even more species.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Of course - another senior moment, oh dear... A few minutes down the road from us and it opened and closed before I noticed. Is there much in print from it?
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I have some leaflets from it as I only visited it the one time. Remember going in through a small conservatory type building I believe. They had owls in a longish poly tunnel type aviary and a largish pond with black swans on it. The keeper lad was not a good advert for a keeper with his whole attitude towards the birds I remember.
 
Another one I cannot see on the list is the Tropical Bird Gardens at Desford, Harewood , Leeds Castle and also Lotherton near Leeds which now has quite a few mammals now.
 
Zoo guide books said:
Another one I cannot see on the list is the Tropical Bird Gardens at Desford, Harewood , Leeds Castle and also Lotherton near Leeds which now has quite a few mammals now.
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Desford and Harewood are still with us and still birds, Lotherton is now a 'real' zoo :) like many of the other original bird gardens. Leeds Castle is gone, and was very pretty and well done, had a good reputation. We've forgotten Waddesden... Sladmore Gardens at High Wycombe. Was Paulton's just birds to start with..?
 
Andrew Swales said:
Was Paulton's just birds to start with..?
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I believe so, and - from what little I know about the current status of the collection - the animal side of things is rapidly dwindling. Probably fair odds that in another few years it will be a pure theme park.
 
A quirky bird gardens that is rarely mentioned is the Black Mountain Bird Gardens in Carmarthenshire, that was set up by Gerald Summers and his wife Imogen in the 1970s. Gerald was the writer, falconer and animal keeper and was the owner of several famous birds including Random the Golden Eagle that he wrote a book about Owned by an Eagle.

The Black Mountain Bird Gardens was Gerald and Imogen’s indulgence. The story of this venture is told with much licence in Wings over Wales, Gerald’s fourth book. They converted a field at the back of their cottage into a bird gardens with a series of well constructed aviaries.

The collection had many of the species that could be commonly obtained at the time: turacos, ornamental pheasants, including Silver, Golden and Lady Amherst Pheasants and peacocks. There was an aviary of mixed waxbills, munias, whydahs and Australian finches, Australian parakeets, Alexandrine Parakeets, Ring-necked Parakeets and Plum-headed Parakeets. In a large aviary there was an African Tawny Eagle. They had a tame talking Greater Hill Mynah called Khan, and also other various soft-bills including a pair of Laughing-thrushes and a Pagoda Mynah. They had many tame free-flying birds including a Raven and a Griffon Vulture.

Gerald was one of those great British eccentric animal people. A visit to their home adventure. Both Gerald and Imogen were dog people, and they had whippets, odd mongrels, a Saluki, a terrier, pugs and a huge Newfoundland called Storm, that would live up to his name and create havoc by blundering about knocking crockery off low lying tables. There were always dogs asleep on the arm chairs, birds in cages, or more often parrots, owls or hawks sitting on the furniture, and sometimes small mammals in glass tanks. One day while having tea with them in the kitchen I asked to use the bathroom, and was given instructions, and warned to be careful not to disturb Random who was sitting on the back of the sofa in the living room, and when I got to the bathroom beware of the young herons in the bath.
 
There has been talk about the Hamburg Bird Park that came out of the closed zoo. Do you refer to the zoo that was in Planten un Blomen?
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I believe so, and - from what little I know about the current status of the collection - the animal side of things is rapidly dwindling. Probably fair odds that in another few years it will be a pure theme park.
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You may have heard more than me, but given the extensive development of the Little Africa area, within the last few years, it seems unlikely that the zoo is being displaced. It’s really rather a nicely done area - the walk-in Aviary is great, and there are some interesting mammals there too.
 
sooty mangabey said:
You may have heard more than me, but given the extensive development of the Little Africa area, within the last few years, it seems unlikely that the zoo is being displaced. It’s really rather a nicely done area - the walk-in Aviary is great, and there are some interesting mammals there too.
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My information was rather older, so it sounds like there has been a (very welcome) turn-around :)

Still a collection I am nigh-certain never to visit, sadly.....
 
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