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National Aviary Review of National Aviary

Discussion in 'United States' started by geomorph, 22 Jan 2013.

  1. geomorph

    geomorph Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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    This review is based on my visit in May 2012.

    The National Aviary is an AZA-accredited facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is almost exclusively devoted to exhibiting birds. It is located on the edge of the Allegheny Center and North Shore areas of the city, just a short walk from Downtown across the Allegheny River. The collection is composed of about 200 species from around the world, with about 600 birds housed there. It started in 1952 as the Pittsburgh Aviary-Conservatory, owned by the city. In 1992 it was privatized, and in 1993 it was designated as the National Aviary by the U.S. Congress. The facility is mostly an indoor experience, housed in a collection of inter-connected buildings from different eras located in a park. Tying together the varied styles and qualities of the exhibits are informational graphics and species identification signs that are mostly consistent and informational. This review will start at one of the two entrances (the newer East Entrance) and proceed through the exhibits in a roughly counter-clockwise route.

    The East Entrance Pavilion is the newest building in the facility, opened a few years ago. It is a contemporary-styled structure with an exterior of unadorned buff brick, a large metallic screen mounted on a wall that emulates a wing and supports signage for the facility, and a glass-walled entrance. Just inside the bright lobby is a ticketing desk set against a wall of angled wood forms; unfortunately the first exhibits are also encountered here, with a store-bought standard rollaway cage surrounded by potted plants on each side of the entrance door. One is for a scarlet macaw, the other for a palm cockatoo. I imagine these two cages feature a rotating selection of birds and obviously can be easily removed, but the first impression is poor; if I was a casual visitor walking in and not sure I wanted to see the aviary, I would turn around and leave upon spotting these displays. Past the lobby is the Atrium, a very bright space that is the pivot point for visitors to go in one of three directions into the exhibits; it is a square room topped by a large round modern glass dome. A donor plaque wall occupies one side, while the middle is occupied by the seating area for Atria’s, a small counter in the corner that is the facility’s only food service. A low modern hallway leads off the Atrium with angled white walls and blue soffit lighting to the other rooms that comprise the East Entrance Pavilion: an enclosed classroom, an elevator up to the open-air rooftop called Skydeck (there are free-flight raptor demonstrations there but it was closed during my visit), and the FliteZone Theater. According to their website, FliteZone Theater is “the world’s first and only indoor theater constructed exclusively for the presentation of live, free-flight bird shows.” The theater is not large or high-ceilinged; it seats perhaps 120 people in moveable chairs, mostly on the flat floor that rings the square stage at the same level. A few rows of chairs at the back of the room are the only ones that are raised on a platform. The theater’s attractive interior is the modern mix of white walls and angled wood panels with blue soffit lighting that is typical of the pavilion’s modern design. The stage backdrop is dominated by a large video panel and framed by small walls of simulated rock and a simulated leafless tree for perching. The show is presented several times a day and is about 20 minutes, hosted by a keeper and several assistants. Due to the small size of the theater, the birds perform short flights but come thrillingly close to the audience. During the show, called ‘Wings!’, short video segments introduce a region of the world, and then a bird species representing that region is brought out while the keeper conducts a live narration. The show I saw featured: 3 macaws (I forget what species) representing South America; 6 hooded vultures (this was thrilling as they all were released at once) representing Africa; a snowy owl representing Europe; a Harris’ hawk representing the Southwest U.S.; 4 gulls (I forget what species; select audience members were given food on a stick to hold above their heads for the gulls to eat during flight) representing the Gulf Coast in the U.S.; and a bald eagle (tethered) representing the U.S. The show is informational, professionally produced without being too slick, and a nice addition to the facility’s attractions.

    FliteZone Interior:

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    Penguin Point is one of the best exhibits at the aviary and exhibits African penguins (about 15) and South African shelduck. The exhibit is outdoors, while the viewing areas are both outdoors and indoors. The large indoor viewing area is located in the hallway of the East Entrance Pavilion described above, and this exhibit is a recent addition as well. A large curved glass wall offers a view into the habitat of simulated rocky walls and shelves that surround a large rocky pool for swimming; the water level is about 3 feet high at the window for underwater viewing. Next to the window is a low crawl space for visitors leading to a few smaller underwater viewing windows and a round pop-up dome for looking at the penguins eye-to-eye on a rocky shelf. A nearby doorway leads outside the building to a path that circles the exhibit and offers two more nice viewing areas: one is a glass viewing panel set in the rocks next to a dry area while the other is a larger underwater viewing panel at the other end of the pool from the previously described indoor viewing area. The exhibit is in a courtyard surrounded by the rather unattractive walls of other buildings in the complex, but the habitat itself is attractive. A doorway leads back inside to a hallway that has a rocky niche with another small underwater viewing window as well as a window looking into one of the small rocky dens for the birds. Just across the hallway are a few nice features unrelated to Penguin Point; one is a window looking into a small food preparation kitchen for the aviary’s animals, while next door is a window looking into the Bird Hospital, a small room with off-exhibit cages for birds in treatment.

    Penguin Point Interior Viewing Window:

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    Wetlands is the largest of the aviary’s four walk-though aviaries and is housed in a large steel-framed rectangular building added in 1967. It is illuminated by glass on all sides as well as the ceiling, and the path through it is a wide straight brick walkway against one wall, with doorways at either end. The metal railing on the walkway’s edge is perched several feet above the surface of a large shallow waterway that occupies most of the aviary, with low rocky banks lining its edge. Beyond, a lush planting of trees and bushes creates a tropical atmosphere, overhanging the water and providing ample perching and nesting spaces. The aviary is full of activity and the bird-spotting is excellent. The signed species are: American flamingo, Bahama pintail, black-faced tanager, black-throated magpie-jay, blue-gray tanager, blue-winged mountain tanager, boat-billed heron, brown pelican, cattle egret, common grackle, crested oropendola, double-crested cormorant, giant cowbird, golden conure, green oropendola, Guira cuckoo, Hadada ibis, hooded merganser, Inca tern, Javan pond heron, purple-throated fruitcrow, ringed teal, roseate spoonbill, rosy-billed pochard, ruddy duck, saffron finch, scaly-naped pigeon, scarlet-headed blackbird, scarlet ibis, screaming piha, sunbittern, wattled curassow, West Indian whistling duck, white-bellied go-away bird, white-tailed trogon, wood duck, yellow-billed cardinal, and yellow-hooded blackbird. Unfortunately, two poor cages are also located in this room, mounted directly on the wide brick walkway with just a few potted plants and some branches for perching attached inside the cages. One is for spectacled owl and is a small octagonal cage and the other is for rhinoceros hornbill and is a slightly larger rectangular cage. Hopefully these are temporary, especially the one for rhinoceros hornbill since their regular exhibit described later was under renovation.

    Wetlands Interior:

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    Grasslands is another walk-through aviary, but this one is very intimate. This small room has a walkway with doorways at each end and some small skylights above; there is no attempt at naturalism with the wall treatment, simply painted baby blue. The limited planting areas are occupied by clumping grasses and small-branched shrubs and twigs. What it lacks in naturalism, it makes up for in excellent small bird viewing. It is abuzz with activity, and when the room is devoid of other visitors it is exceptionally quiet except for the birds themselves. The signed species are: American golden plover, crested wood partridge, cut-throat finch, Eastern paradise-whydah, Gouldian finch, green singing finch, Inca dove, killdeer, Melba finch, scarlet-headed blackbird, scissor-tailed flycatcher, shaft-tailed finch, Sudan golden sparrow, and white-rumped shama. One corner has a perch for African grey parrot as well. Like most of the mixed-species exhibits here, it does not adhere to geographical organization.

    Grasslands Interior:

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    Cloud Forest is a single average exhibit viewed through a long window into a narrow skylit space furnished with tropical plants and deadfall branches. It houses keel-billed toucan, gray-winged trumpeter, and the aviary’s only mammal: two-toed sloth. The hallway that it is located along adjoins the West Entrance (with a small gift shop) and the next two exhibits.

    Stellar’s sea eagle and bald eagle have their own adjoining exhibits and are nearly identical spaces, viewed from large windows in the hallway described above. The exhibits are outdoors and are a bit below average; both are surrounded by tall walls of wood planking, and furnished with small conifers and deadfalls set in a groundplane of bark mulch. A unique feature in the bald eagle exhibit is a bronze historical plaque set in the ground, stating that it is the site of the Western Penitentiary, located here from 1826-1880!

    Tropical Rain Forest is another walk-through aviary and is nearly as large as the Wetlands aviary described previously. Its small lobby houses a poor exhibit for laughing kookaburra, stuck in a small roll-away cage. Despite this lackluster introduction, the fine main room occupies the majority of the original 1952 building, a long conservatory with an arched vault of glass running its length. The visitor path is a straight concrete bridge perched several feet above a ravine with a rocky stream; the ground then rises to meet the level of the walkway as it splits into two paths that lead to two doorways at the far end of the room. The planting is lush and large trees create a canopy over the walkway. The birds are plentiful and active on all levels, representing another international mix. The signed species are: African jacana, Bartlett’s bleeding-heart, black-naped fruit dove, blue-bellied roller, blue-crowned laughing thrush, broad-winged white-eye, collared finch-billed bulbul, crested coua, crested wood partridge, Dhyal thrush, European starling, fairy bluebird, fire-tufted barbet, great argus, green-naped pheasant pigeon, green woodhoopoe, golden-breasted starling, green-winged macaw, golden-crested myna, grosbeak starling, Guam rail, Hadada ibis, hamerkop, hyacinth macaw, laughing kookaburra (not sure if this rferes to the one in the cage at the entrance), Mandarin duck, Nicobar pigeon, orange-bellied leafbird, oriole warbler, pied imperial pigeon, purple-crested turaco, red-billed leiothrix, red bishop, Victoria crowned pigeon, white-crested laughing thrush, white-eared catbird, white-faced whistling duck, white-headed lapwing, and Wompoo fruit dove. The macaws are kept on a large deadfall perch at the end of the room. I also spotted three species not indentified: blue-crowned motmot, cape thick knee, and white-cheeked turaco.

    Tropical Rainforest Interior:

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    Lories and Friends is a stupid name for the final indoor area of the aviary, housed in a typical 1950’s accordian-ceilinged hallway in a dark semi-circular building at the end of Tropical Forest (the doors at the end of it lead into this looped hallway). The first exhibit is a small skylit room that can be viewed through two mesh windows, or entered through a central glass door; inside is a harsh room with tile floor, baby blue painted walls, and skylights. A few potted plants and birdbaths line the room, and suspended twigs provide perches for the rainbow and Swainson’s lorikeets that can be fed. It is probably the most unimpressive bird feeding exhibit I have seen. Next is a tiny exhibit behind glass for Micronesian kingfisher; following that is a larger room behind glass that was being renovated for rhinoceros hornbill; next is another tiny exhibit behind vertical wire for Bali mynah; and finally, a larger exhibit was being renovated for kiwi. Those are some impressive species to have in the collection, but their exhibitry is a challenge in this antiquated building.

    Lorikeet Feeding Interior in Lories and Friends:

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    The final feature of the aviary is an outdoor exhibit for Andean condor; it is a rather dismal chainlink yard with overhead chainlink for containment, attached on one side to the building and viewable from a small garden or from outside the property. At the time of my visit they were landscaping the garden and the exhibit interior with small conifers, but my impression was that it was not going to help this exhibit’s poor quality. At least the ground space is larger than the exhibits for the Stellar’s sea eagle and bald eagle described previously.

    National Aviary houses a nice collection and offers some fine close-up viewing of birds despite its uneven exhibit quality; it is worth visiting, and acts as the missing piece of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium in the same city (a separate facility that does not own or operate this one, its collection is largely devoid of birds). However, to call this the National Aviary is ultimately misleading; one expects that title to go to one of the finest collections and facilities of its kind. It is true that there are only a handful of aviary-only facilities in the U.S., but when considering the bird collections and exhibitry of U.S. zoos, I can think of at least 15 that surpass this one. None of its exhibits make my top 25 list of individual bird exhibits. I rank National Aviary at number 57 of the 59 zoo facilities I have visited; that sounds terrible, but that rank is due to the limited scope and size of the facility in comparison to the traditional zoos on my list. If I had a ranked list of aviary-only facilities, this would be number 1! General adult admission is $13, and with the addition of $5 for the bird show it is a few dollars overpriced. I have posted additonal pictures in the gallery.
     
    Last edited: 22 Jan 2013
  2. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Yeah, a new Geomorph review! Great review of what sounds like a mediocre institution. I have been curious what this place was like as one of only two aviaries in the U.S. and your brought it vividly to life.

    For anybody interested in zoogeography those exhibits sound like a major headache with their collections derived from throwing geographic regions into a blender. I guess habitat theme does at least marginally hold them together.

    How does their African penguin exhibit compare to the one at the California Academy of Sciences?
     
  3. geomorph

    geomorph Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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    DavidBrown, Penguin Point is superior to the California Academy of Sciences' African penguin exhibit due to the variety of angles for viewing, greater variety of spaces, and outdoor location of the exhibit.
     
  4. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Great review geomorph! I've always been curious about the National Aviary as its an institution that seems to fly under the radar. I always appreciate your design-centric reviews as it gives a thorough feeling of having "been there."
     
  5. PAT

    PAT Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Your review was actually really helpful because I've finally realised that this and the Tracy Aviary are two different establishments. I honestly feel so stupid.
     
  6. jusko88

    jusko88 Well-Known Member

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    As a Pittsburgh local, thanks my friend for showing this place in full detail. Im proud to be a member of this place. such a great aviary.
     
  7. jusko88

    jusko88 Well-Known Member

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    Geomorph
    "the aviary’s only mammal: two-toed sloth."

    Recently a trainer told me that the aviary is going to bring in a new species of mammal. And will go in one of the exhibits back by lories & friends. any updates i hear i will let you know.
     
  8. geomorph

    geomorph Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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    jusko88, any guess what the mammal might be? My guess is that it will need to get along with birds! I could see chevrotain in with the hornbills, what do you think?
     
  9. jusko88

    jusko88 Well-Known Member

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    I think it might be Rodrigues flying fox. I could definitely see Chevrotain going in the Hornbill exhibit. Im kind of curious if the Hornbill exhibit will even still be there. There redoing that whole back section and reopening it in November. I hope they bring in some cool bird species and some mammals as well.
     
  10. geomorph

    geomorph Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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    I hadn't thought about that but yes, a mammal that flies would make perfect sense to highlight here!