The Bali Bird Park is situated in Singapuda, north of Denpasar. Its quite an expensive day out getting there from Kuta where most of the tourists are. The local buses from Batubulan bus terminal pass right by the entrance road so that’s handy but first you need to get to the bus terminal itself, which from Kuta means a 100,000 rupiah motorbike ride or a 150,000 taxi ride (those are one-way prices). Or you can take one of the infrequent tourist buses up to Ubud for about 60,000 and then take another local bus back to the Bird Park. Any way you look at it its a pricey trip. And then when you get to the Bird Park the entrance fee is an exhorbitant US$21.50 (note those are American dollars) or the equivalent in rupiah which when I was there was 236,500. They really must be raking in the cash because the park was full of both tourists and locals while I was there. The Bird Park is in the shape of an elongated wedge (if you visit their website Bali Bird Park - Heaven on Earth there’s probably a map on there). When you first enter you get sprayed down with a disinfectant which is unusual but has to be a good practice. The first birds you see are some macaws and cockatoos on perches and a couple of demoiselle cranes free on a lawn, and then a glass-fronted room where you can see young birds that are being hand-reared. The Park is divided more or less into geographical regions starting with Africa and the Americas, and then southeast Asian areas (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara). The aviaries are all built in one style which is nice, although they certainly aren’t designed with photography in mind. You could probably describe them as “Balinese” in style, with sand-coloured pillars at the corners and thick black mesh. The main problem I had with them was that almost all of them were (in my opinion) extremely small, often tall and narrow with a width sufficient for maybe four or five hops across the perch by the bird. Some were smaller than others of course, and some were quite adequate (even large), but most of the birds there certainly would benefit from more space. It all looked very nice though because of the lush vegetation everywhere. The first aviaries are for South American birds, including scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbills, followed by large macaws (Buffon’s, green-winged, hyacinth) and then small macaws (such as severe and red-fronted – in very small cages), with the African section straight after which includes a mixed aviary of crowned cranes, Von der Decken’s hornbills, purple glossy starling, violet touraco, African grey parrot and helmeted guineafowl. Then there’s sort of a general collection of aviaries with such birds as toucans, kookaburras and to my surprise Sumba hornbills! The rest of the Bird Park is all Asian/New Guinea/Australian birds. There are two single-wattled cassowaries in separate pens that are shockingly small (probably ten or fifteen strides by the bird from one end to the other). There are some larger aviaries here too, like one with a lot of nicobar pigeons, wreathed and rhinoceros hornbills, and silver, argus and Bulwer’s pheasants (although I didn’t see the Bulwer’s). The biggest aviary is the walk-through “Papua Aviary” which looks fantastic, filled as it is with thick tropical vegetation. There are some small aviaries for lories inside (with the emphasis on “small”) but most of the birds here are free-flying although not all are from New Guinea. The nicest birds I saw in here were the male greater bird-of-paradise which I think I got some good photos of, yellow-streaked lories and New Guinea bronzewing pigeon (Henicophaps albifrons). The Bali Aviary is also a nice walk-through one, just after which are the bird-of-paradise aviaries, housing greater, lesser, red, magnificent, twelve-wired and king. The aviaries are useless for photography purposes because of the mesh they are made of, but the birds themselves are none the worse for that. These aviaries aren’t too small, except the ones for the king and magnificent birds-of-paradise which are once again very small vertical cages. Here are also a couple of pens for Komodo dragons. Summary: nice birds, nice setting, most of the aviaries I think were too small, entry fee far too expensive. Best birds for me: single-wattled cassowary, Sumba hornbill, Javan hawk-eagle, all the birds-of-paradise, bearded barbet (Lybius dubius). Right next to the Bird Park is the Reptile Park which is entered on the same ticket (so no need to pay again). This was actually better than expected and also more extensive than expected. Most of the animals were in good-sized terrariums or pens, only occasionally did I think critically of the space certain animals had. I counted 48 species held here, the bulk of which were smaller species inside a winding reptile house. There were some unexpected species here (in-as-much as I thought I’d just be seeing Asian reptiles) such as Gila monster, taipan, sungazers, Madagascar tree boa and Californian kingsnakes. I have photos of many species and cages but I can’t upload any at this time because of time restraints, so that will have to wait till I’m back in NZ in November. I also made as complete lists as I could of all the species in both the Bird and Reptile Parks, because I know people on here always like to ask for lists, but again I’ll have to post those when back in NZ (the Bird Park list is about 120 species long)
Thanks for the great review. Mighty interested in your comments on bird and or reptile breeding at both establishments. And yes, species list be helpful (understand the time thingy). Sumba hornbill and quite a good range of birds of paradise, wow-factor extreme! Any indication the park has some form of conservation ethic (vis a vis the Bali starling re-establishment)?
they do work closely with Bali mynah recovery programme, and there did appear to be a lot of off-display breeding areas. There was certainly an impressive list of recent hatchings of a large number of species including birds-of-paradise (can't remember the species off-hand) posted near the entrance (I have a photo of it which I will upload in the future, several months hence!). There were two aviaries for Sumba hornbills, both (I think) with nest boxes so that's a good sign. On the other hand the Javan hawk-eagle signage said "rare and endangered, a prize in any collection" which smacks of the postage-stamp mentality. It was just a pity that most of the aviaries were so much on the small side. I don't know anything about the breedings in the reptile park although there were a number of green tree python babies on display. I really didn't have enough time at either place (three hours total) because I had a driver waiting to take me to the airport to go to Sulawesi )), so I didn't talk to any staff, just wandered around delighting in the birds.
Another recent visit Having just visited (30/8/09) I can endorse the report above. This is a lovely collection, and overall well presented. However many of the aviaries are too small, and this is very disappointing. But I have never, anywhere, been so close to birds of paradise. The highlight for me was feeding time in the Papua aviary. We arrived early to be there for the feeding at 9.30, and were the only ones in the aviary at the time. The keeper, who spoke excellent English, gave us bowls of fruit and seed and we were soon covered with lories of various species. However better still, he had crickets and we were soon hand feeding Greater Bird of Paradise, hornbills, and racquet-tailed drongos. Fantastic. This is a small park in area, about 2ha (5 acres) although they do make the most of the area they have. So my advice is arrive early (birds are best seen in the cooler morning, anyway) then follow up with the reptile park (likewise it was better than expected, although a little run down compared with the bird park) then lunch. Cost? Yes it is expensive especially for Indonesia. But for the species held, and the experience, I was happy to pay. They also had a number of large parrots, hornbills etc you could be photographed with, and this was free with your own camera. And a note about getting there. Simple solution is plan a day out, hire a car and not only see the bird park but also maybe the zoo, and local temples etc as well. Don't hire a car through your hotel, just go out into the street and bargain with one of the locals hanging around who will certainly accost you. Cost? Should be about Rp. 250,000 for a day (approx US$25, AU$30). I have never had a bad experience doing this in 25 years of visiting Indonesia, and mostly the driver will be your firm friend by the time you leave. Michael
Bird-list from the Bali Bird Park Bird-list from the Bali Bird Park, arranged taxonomically (more or less). I didn't see the species marked with an asterisk but there were signs for them so I presume they were there (these were mostly species in the mixed aviaries). I've only put the scientific names for species that may be unfamiliar or for where there may be confusion. single-wattled cassowary Australian pelican pink-backed pelican brown booby (unlabelled) cattle egret (*) little egret (*) Javan pond heron (*) milky stork (*) lesser adjutant glossy ibis scarlet ibis roseate spoonbill greater and lesser flamingoes (a mixed flock of eleven birds) black swan mute swan magpie goose (*) radjah shelduck (*) Chinese goose (domestic) crested goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus, just labelled "goshawk" on the signage) crested serpent eagle Javan hawk-eagle Brahminy kite silver pheasant golden X Lady Amherst's pheasant (unlabelled) Bulwer's pheasant (*) great argus blue peafowl helmeted guineafowl grey-necked crowned crane demoiselle crane (free on the lawn) fancy domestic doves (free-flying) spot-necked doves (free-flying and/or wild) zebra dove (*) emerald dove (green-winged pigeon) (*) cinnamon ground dove (Gallicolumba rufigula) (*) New Guinea bronzewing pigeon (Henicophaps albifrons) (*) Nicobar pigeon black-naped fruit dove (*) orange-breasted green pigeon (Treron bicincta) (*) white-bellied imperial pigeon (Ducula forsteni) (*) pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor) crowned pigeons (I saw blue and Scheepmaker's, but the only sign for them said Victoria's) greater sulphur-crested cockatoo galah cockatiel blue and gold macaw military macaw Buffon's macaw green-winged macaw hyacinth macaw severe macaw red-fronted macaw blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus) African grey parrot (*) Senegal parrot "Lovebird Agapornis sp" (an aviary of various colour mutations) budgerigar eastern rosella pale-headed rosella Australian crimson-wing Amboina king parrot eclectus parrot moustached parrot rainbow lorikeet (T.h. weberi) (*) ornate lorikeet black lory chattering lory dusky lory yellow-streaked lory black-capped lory Pesquet's parrot violet touraco (Musophaga violacea) (*) greater coucal red-billed malkoha (Phaenicophaeus javanicus) (unlabelled) barred eagle owl buffy fish owl brown wood owl collared scops owl common kookaburra Leadbeater's ground hornbill Von Der Decken's hornbill Sumba hornbill white-crowned hornbill rhinoceros hornbill wreathed hornbill Oriental pied hornbill Sulawesi dwarf hornbill (*) bearded barbet (Lybius dubius) lineated barbet (Megalaima lineata) Swainson's toucan pitta sp (I just saw it shoot across an unlabelled aviary as I approached, so not sure which species) sooty-headed bulbul yellow-vented bulbul Asian fairy bluebird Oriental magpie-robin helmeted friarbird Java sparrow hill mynah Javan mynah Bali mynah Asian pied starling black-winged starling purple glossy starling (Lamprotornis purpureus) amethyst starling black-naped oriole greater racquet-tailed drongo (*) greater bird of paradise red bird of paradise lesser bird of paradise magnificent bird of paradise twelve-wired bird of paradise king bird of paradise large-billed crow green magpie Komodo dragon
Lists for the mixed aviaries (there may have been other species in these aviaries that I didn't see and that didn't have signs): "African Aviary": helmeted guineafowl grey-necked crowned crane African grey parrot (*) Von der Decken's hornbill purple glossy starling violet touraco (*) "Asian Aviary" (that isn't actually what it was called): silver pheasant Bulwer's pheasant (*) great argus nicobar pigeon rhinoceros hornbill wreathed hornbill "Papuan Aviary" (walk-through, but with some individual aviaries inside also): Australian crimson-wing [in their own aviary] Amboina king parrot Pesquet's parrot rainbow lorikeet (T.h. weberi) (*) ornate lorikeet black lory [in their own aviary] chattering lory yellow-streaked lory [some in the walk-through and some in a separate aviary inside] black-capped lory dusky lory [in their own aviary] emerald dove (green-winged pigeon) (*) cinnamon ground dove (Gallicolumba rufifrons) (*) New Guinea bronzewing pigeon (Henicophaps albifrons) (*) white-bellied imperial pigeon (Ducula forsteni) (*) crowned pigeons (I saw blue and Scheepmaker's, but the only sign for them said Victoria's) Oriental pied hornbill greater bird of paradise (at least one male) greater racquet-tailed drongo (*) "Bali Aviary" (walk-through): glossy ibis zebra dove (*) black-naped fruit dove (*) orange-breasted green pigeon (Treron bicincta) (*) pied imperial pigeon yellow-vented bulbul Oriental magpie-robin black-naped oriole (*) black-winged starling Javan mynah
Species list for the Bali Reptile Park Species list for the Bali Reptile Park: Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata) Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) river terrapin (Batagur baska) Siebenrock's snake-necked turtle (Chelodina siebenrocki) African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) red-footed tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria) Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) water monitor (Varanus salvator) blue-tailed monitor (Varanus doreanus) Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) green iguana (Iguana iguana) rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) sungazer (Cordylus giganticus) black-lined plated lizard (Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus) crowned agamid (Hypsilurus dilophus) sailfin lizard (Hydrosaurus weberi) giant blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua gigas) leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) tokay (Gekko gecko) palm gecko (Gekko vittatus) Kuhl's flying gecko (Ptychozoon kuhli) green tree python (Morelia viridis) amethystine python (Morelia amethistina) Timor python (Python timoriensis) reticulated python (Python reticulatus) Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) Surinam red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor constrictor) Madagascar tree boa (Boa manditra) (syn. Sanzinia madagascariensis) Indonesian eyelash viper (Trimeresurus puniceus) Malayan pit viper (Callaselasma rhodostoma) green vine snake (Ahaetulla prasina) taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) king brown snake (Pseudechis australis) king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) ringed water cobra (Naja annulata) (syn. Boulengerina annulata) [at the park given the nondescript common name of "southern African cobra"] Chinese cobra (Naja atra) spitting cobra (Naja sputatrix) Californian king snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae) blotched king snake (Lampropeltis getula goini) saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) slender-snouted crocodile (Crocodylus cataphractus) African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) giant tree frog (Litoria infrafrenata) White's tree frog (Litoria caerulea) Paraguay horned frog (Ceratophrys ornata) Mexican red-kneed tarantula (Brachypelma smithi)
I can confirm the touraco, the racquet-tailed drongo, and the African grey parrots, from my visit a couple of months back.
have just uploaded some photos of both the Bird Park and Reptile Park Bali Bird Park & Rimba Reptile Park Gallery apologies for the poor (fuzzy) quality of the shots of the indoor reptile terrariums some photos that may be of particular interest for the species' rarity value: http://www.zoochat.com/1229/javan-hawk-eagle-spizaetus-bartelsi-139869/ and http://www.zoochat.com/1229/javan-hawk-eagle-spizaetus-bartelsi-139868/ http://www.zoochat.com/1229/female-sumba-hornbill-aceros-rhyticeros-everetti-139866/ and this one also: http://www.zoochat.com/1229/hatchings-bali-bird-park-139833/ which is a list of bird species that were then-recently bred at the park
I also uploaded this photo http://www.zoochat.com/1229/grey-faced-buzzard-butastur-liventer-139905/ The bird was labelled as "goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus", which is the binomen of the crested goshawk, so that is what I therefore noted it down as at the time. However now, looking at the photos, it appears to instead be the grey-faced buzzard. Unless anyone can tell me different.
I visited this place a little over a week ago and there isn't much to add to Chlidonias's review. A handful of aviaries are shockingly small. A large number of them are smaller than typical western zoo exhibits for the birds would be and could be considered typical 'backyard' aviary in size (though perhaps not shape). I don't think any of the birds are any worse off than responsibly kept birds kept in the private sector in developed countries are. The Papuan aviary is wonderful, the Bali aviary is solid. I do think that the park could probably offer more space to the majority of its existing collection without actually having to reduce that collection much, with better use of space. It's not perfect but I was, on the whole, pleasantly surprised. Seeing my first hornbills, toucans, Pesquet's parrots, crowned cranes, birds of paradise and Bali mynahs, I was probably going to be easy to please.
I'm sure my memory has increased the size of the individual aviaries here in my mind, but looking at my review (I quoted the bit below) they must have been very small. The walk-throughs are fantastic though. And I agree they could quite easily give all the birds in individual aviaries more room and it wouldn't be necessary to decrease the collection nor would it make the park seem more crowded. "The main problem I had with them was that almost all of them were (in my opinion) extremely small, often tall and narrow with a width sufficient for maybe four or five hops across the perch by the bird. Some were smaller than others of course, and some were quite adequate (even large), but most of the birds there certainly would benefit from more space."
did you take any notes on which species you saw at the bird park CGSwans, which may be additional to the ones I listed as being there when I visited? The Sumba hornbills and the birds-of-paradise (as always!) were the major highlights for me. Did you see the Bulwer's pheasant they had labelled? I couldn't see it at all, and that's one pheasant I'd really love to see!
I didn't, sorry. I remember seeing signs for those species, but pretty sure the only pheasant that was out and about was a Lady Amherst's and some goldens. The Sunda hornbills - I think I saw them but I was seeing hornbills for the first time in my life and honestly all species were making an equal impression. Your species list certainly seemed to be broadly still accurate.
I visited the Bali Bird Park last week, I'll update the species list from this topic the species I added will be marked with an + the species I deleted will be listed below single-wattled cassowary + southern cassowary Australian pelican + little cormorant cattle egret + great egret + purple heron lesser adjutant + European white stork (show only) glossy ibis scarlet ibis greater flamingo + domestic duck black swan magpie goose + ring-necked teal Bird of prey named ''black eagle'' (Nisaetus cirrhatus?) (show only) crested serpent eagle Javan hawk-eagle Brahminy kite + White-bellied sea-eagle (show only) + spotted kestrel (show only) silver pheasant golden X Lady Amherst's pheasant (unlabelled) blue peafowl + Javan green peafowl helmeted guineafowl grey crowned crane emerald dove (green-winged pigeon) cinnamon ground dove (Gallicolumba rufigula) (not seen) Nicobar pigeon orange-breasted green pigeon (Treron bicincta) (not seen) white-bellied imperial pigeon (Ducula forsteni) pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor) black-naped fruit dove Sclater's crowned pigeon (not seen) Western crowned pigeon Victoria crowned pigeon + brown cuckoo dove (not signed) greater sulphur-crested cockatoo + Salmon-crested cockatoo galah + Black cockatoo (show only) blue and gold macaw military macaw and/or Buffon's macaw green-winged macaw + scarlet macaw hyacinth macaw severe macaw red-fronted macaw blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus) African grey parrot Senegal parrot "Lovebird Agapornis sp" (an aviary of various colour mutations) budgerigar (not signed) Australian crimson-wing Amboina king parrot eclectus parrot moustached parrot rainbow lorikeet ornate lorikeet black lory chattering lory dusky lory yellow-streaked lory black-capped lory Pesquet's parrot violet touraco (not seen) + Livingstone's touraco + Hartlaub's touraco greater coucal (not signed) barred eagle owl buffy fish owl brown wood owl collared scops owl + Javan kingfisher Leadbeater's ground hornbill Sumba hornbill white-crowned hornbill rhinoceros hornbill wreathed hornbill Oriental pied hornbill Sulawesi dwarf hornbill lineated barbet (Megalaima lineata) + flame-fronted barbet (Megalaima armillaris armillaris) (not signed) + fire-tufted barbet (Psilopogon pyrolophus) (not signed) Swainson's toucan Banded pitta + White-shouldered triller (not signed) + Scarlet minivet (not seen) + Red-chested Flowerpecker (Dicaeum maugei) (not seen) yellow-vented bulbul Asian fairy bluebird (not seen) helmeted friarbird Java sparrow black-naped oriole greater racquet-tailed drongo hill mynah Javan mynah Bali mynah black-winged starling + white-shouldered starling + scissor-billed starling (not signed) amethyst starling red bird of paradise (2.1) lesser bird of paradise (2.1) magnificent bird of paradise (1.1) twelve-wired bird of paradise (2.3) king bird of paradise (3.2) + Magnificient riflebird (1.0) Komodo dragon + un-ID'ed fruit bat -- Deleted the following as I did not see them and they were not signed -- pink-backed pelican brown booby little egret Javan pond heron milky stork roseate spoonbill lesser flamingo mute swan Chinese goose (domestic) radjah shelduck Bulwer's pheasant great argus demoiselle crane zebra dove New Guinea bronzewing pigeon cockatiel eastern rosella pale-headed rosella red-billed malkoha common kookaburra Von Der Decken's hornbill bearded barbet sooty-headed bulbul Oriental magpie-robin Asian pied starling purple glossy starling greater bird of paradise large-billed crow green magpie
In June the New Guinea bronzewing was signed in the Papua aviary but not there, but I found one lurking in the Bali aviary. The fruit bat was Pteropus vampyrus.
