razor-billed curassow aviary

Where is this enclosure?
Does anyone know what species it now contains?

I'm pretty sure this is the Red-tailed black cockatoo aviary (opposite the Japanese Garden), which until recently also held Himalayan Monal (now gone from the zoo sadly). I am basing this on the size of the aviary, and its domed roof. If it is not this aviary, then it has been demolished sometime pre-2000, as there has not been a similar aviary in recent times.

I think it may have held hybrid macaws at the same time (listed in the 1992 census) and then Scarlet Macaws (or possibly the same hybrids) in 1995 (http://www.zoochat.com/14/scarlet-macaws-154295/).

You (driftaguy) recently posted photos of the aviary here http://www.zoochat.com/14/bird-aviary-263221/ and here http://www.zoochat.com/14/bird-aviary-263220/.

Yea, I think the Kookaburra aviary was part of the row of aviaries that were heavily renovated a few years ago, but still fo hold Kookaburra, as well as a few other, mostly Australian, species.

I think you can't see the peak of the roof in this photo, but if you compare the physical structure to that in both Chlidonias' macaw photo and driftaguy's bird aviary photos I think you can see the same framing. Also, the current aviary also has the smaller aviary part at the back, although its not so easy to see in these photos.

So, not being totally obsessed with this or anything , but I have had a look on google maps and couldn't see any signs of the holding aviary at the back (although there was a lot of tree cover in that area), but I also had a look at the map from the 1980s (http://www.zoochat.com/14/auckland-zoo-map-1980s-54241/) and it only shows birds (excluding natives and waterfowl) as being on the left edge of the zoo, where all such birds are still kept today. To me, this suggests that, as the aviary in question was unlikely built after this map was created, and there being no other area on this left hand edge where another aviary could have been situated (given that it is still today full of aviaries and a few exhibits that are almost certainly no younger than the aviary in question - with the exception of the japanese garden, not sure what this replaced but it opened in 1990, two years prior to the photo being taken of the aviary in question), it is likely the same aviary as that which now holds the black cockatoos.

In that 1979 map, the aviary we are discussing is labelled 10, or is in the same location as that aviary, which then housed "birds of prey". A map I have (1958) indicates that crested curassow and peafowl were housed at what in both your 1979 (#7) and 1980s map show as housing peafowl (and could potentially also be holding curassows), which I believe is a fenced pen.

OK, I can see that, and now think you are right. There are a couple of other reasons why this might not be the same aviary too.

1). There are no tall trees behind this aviary, which are definitely behind the macaw/cockatoo aviary. These are also present in this late 1970s aerial photo of the zoo (http://www.zoochat.com/14/late-1970s-30392/).

2). The aviary at the back of this aviary is quite extensive, and appears to hold a seperate species (I think I can see two rainbow lorikeets at the back?), which is not what the macaw/cockatoo aviary has.

The aerial photo, as well as all the maps, would suggest that this curassow aviary is actually visible in the photo, and is the one at the upper-right of the block of aviaries (#8 on 1979 map) that are partly cut-off in the bottom left corner of the photo. Here can also be seen the aviary at the back, and the wooden shelter in the middle. This aviary block is now demolished, and has been replaced, with the last aviary in the new block (which either holds African grey or eclectus parrots) in the same place as the curassow aviary.

Thanks for the complication Chlidonias .