The Penang Bird Park is situated on the mainland of Penang (not on the island of Penang) but it is easy to reach. I took the free ferry from Georgetown on the island across to Butterworth on the mainland, and then took the number 209 bus [2017 edit: now bus number 709]. The bus doesn't pass directly past the bird park but the driver will let you off at the right place and then it's only about a five minute walk, up the road and round the corner. I wasn't sure what to expect from the park but it was a very nice surprise to see such a large and diverse collection. I had been anticipating common aviary birds, parrots and a few storks and pelicans. Instead there was a brilliant range of southeast Asian birds and a scattering of exotics, many of which I had never seen in any of the other zoos or bird parks I have visited in Asia. One of the birds I didn't even know what it was! A fairly large black and blue bird, almost like a Fairy Bluebird but not, and I had no clue at all. The sign on the other side of the aviary cleared it up: a completely unexpected San Blas Jay!! The signage was overall very good indeed, which was also quite unexpected. It was simple but sufficient, with a distribution map, basic information and a good picture. There were a few species unlabelled but not many. The aviaries were all pretty basic, generally not large but usually not too small either. They looked sort of like “backyard aviaries” in construction but were none the worse for that. Because the area is quite small they are mostly arranged in long rows. The ability to get good photos of the birds depended very much on which direction the aviary faced – some were fine, others had the sun glaring right off the wire which just washed them out. In comparison to some other Asian bird parks, the aviaries (and grounds) were not as attractive but were more spacious than at the Bali Bird Park, and it had far more species than the KL Bird Park and I liked it much better; it was of course not as good as Jurong but that rather goes without saying. There were two walk-through aviaries. One seemed a bit wasted, mainly holding domestic Turkeys and Ring-necked Pheasants. The other one was fantastic. From the outside it looked not too interesting – I could see Scheepmaker's Crowned Pigeons, Great Curassows and some smaller birds – but once inside there was a splendid array of Asian passerines. Many were labelled – including Ashy Minivets – but others weren't, including Asian Pied Fantail, Streaked Spiderhunter and Blue-winged Pittas. Jewel in the unlabelled crown though (at least for me) was a black bird sitting in one of the trees. A drongo of some sort? No, a Drongo Cuckoo! Never seen one before and I spent some time trying to get a good photo of it in its awkward position – only to then realise that there were actually between five and ten Drongo Cuckoos in the aviary. There were a couple of dispensing machines in the aviary which gave out small plastic containers full of mealworms, and soon the Ashy Minivets and Drongo Cuckoos in particular were swarming over the visitors who had the food. Jackwow would love this place! Mostly when I visit zoos I take lots of enclosure photos and not many animal photos (because I am usually seeing animals I consider commonplace). At the Penang Bird Park it was the total opposite! Not sure when I will be able to upload them all though. Species lists follow (as always, just what I saw or what was labelled). Common names only -- it took me long enough to type them all out without looking up scientific names as well! EDIT: there is an updated species list from May 2017 here: Penang Bird Park - Penang Bird Park, 29 May 2017
BIRDS: Ostrich Greater Rhea Emu Common Cassowary Black Swan Mute Swan Magpie Goose Egyptian Goose Common Shelduck Ruddy Shelduck Radjah Shelduck Hooded Merganser Smew White-faced Whistling Duck Wandering Whistling Duck Lesser Whistling Duck Domestic Duck Sunda Teal Chiloe Wigeon Bahama Pintail Ruddy Duck Goldeneye [did not see] New Zealand Scaup Mandarin Duck (including white ones) Carolina Wood Duck Greater Flamingo African Spoonbill Cattle Egret Painted Stork Milky Stork Pink-backed Pelican Californian Quail Bobwhite Scaled Quail Blue-breasted Quail Chukar Roulroul Great Argus Grey Peacock-pheasant Palawan Peacock-pheasant Rothschild's Peacock-pheasant Malayan Peacock-pheasant Ring-necked Pheasant (and mutations) Green Pheasant Golden Pheasant Lady Amherst's Pheasant Reeves' Pheasant Silver Pheasant (including Lewis') Kalij Pheasant (at least two subspecies) Edward's Pheasant Siamese Fireback Crested Fireback Crestless Fireback Indian Peafowl (including mutations) Red Junglefowl Green Junglefowl Domestic Chickens Vulturine Guineafowl Kenya Crested Guineafowl Domestic Turkey Great Curassow Blue-and-gold Macaw Hahn's Macaw Patagonian Conure Blue-crowned Conure Sun Conure Nanday Conure Palm Cockatoo Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Umbrella Cockatoo Moluccan Cockatoo Goffin's Cockatoo Ducorp's Cockatoo Galah Eclectus Budgerigar African Grey Parrot Alexandrine Indian Ringnecks (and mutations) Plum-headed Parakeet Blossom-headed Parakeet Moustached Parakeet Blue-rumped Parrot Black Lory Chattering Lory Red Lory Yellow-streaked Lory Dusky Lory Black-capped Lory Duivenbode's Lory Green-naped Lorikeet Domestic (White) Dove (White) Barbary Dove Pied Imperial Pigeon Green Imperial Pigeon Pink-necked Green Pigeon Thick-billed Green Pigeon Jambu Fruit Dove Beautiful Fruit Dove Emerald (Green-winged) Dove Nicobar Pigeon Scheepmaker's Crowned Pigeon Victoria Crowned Pigeon [did not see] Spot-necked Dove Little Cuckoo-dove [unlabelled] Barred Cuckoo-dove Namaqua Dove Tambourine Dove Emerald-spotted Wood Dove Zebra Dove Diamond Dove Bar-shouldered Dove White-bellied Sea Eagle Crested Serpent-eagle Changeable Hawk-eagle Brahminy Kite Black-thighed Falconet Secretary Bird Barn Owl [did not see] Oriental Bay Owl Malayan Eagle Owl Buffy Fish Owl Spotted Wood Owl Brown Wood Owl Reddish Scops Owl Chestnut-winged Cuckoo [unlabelled] Banded Bay Cuckoo [unlabelled] Malayan Hawk-cuckoo [unlabelled, but in an aviary with a sign and picture for Oriental Cuckoo] Drongo Cuckoo [unlabelled] Asian Koel Chestnut-breasted Malkoha [unlabelled] Lesser Coucal [unlabelled] White-throated Kingfisher Chestnut-headed Bee-eater [unlabelled] Blue-eared Barbet Lineated Barbet Yellow-crowned Barbet Oriental Pied Hornbill Great Hornbill Rhinoceros Hornbill Wrinkled Hornbill [did not see] Wreathed Hornbill White-crowned Hornbill [did not see] Bushy-crested Hornbill Malayan Black Hornbill Red-billed Hornbill Southern Ground Hornbill Blue-winged Pitta [unlabelled] Black And Red Broadbill Green Broadbill Vevet-fronted Nuthatch Scarlet Minivet Ashy Minivet Asian Fairy Bluebird Greater Leafbird Lesser Leafbird Golden-fronted Leafbird Blue-winged Leafbird Black-headed Bulbul Black-crested Bulbul Grey-cheeked Bulbul Grey-bellied Bulbul Scaly-breasted Bulbul Red-whiskered Bulbul Stripe-throated Bulbul White-crested Laughing Thrush Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush Orange-headed Thrush Oriental Magpie-robin [unlabelled] Mugimaki Flycatcher [did not see] Yellow-rumped Flycatcher [unlabelled] Verditer Flycatcher Asian Paradise Flycatcher Asian Pied Fantail Baya Weaver Java Sparrow Pin-tailed Parrotfinch Zebra Finch Long-tailed Finch Star Finch Orange-winged Pytilia Melba Finch Peter's Twinspot African Firefinch Blue-capped Cordon Bleu Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu Purple Grenadier Brown-throated Sunbird Streaked Spiderhunter [unlabelled] Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker Japanese White-eye [did not see] Black-naped Oriole Hill Mynah Golden-breasted Mynah Black-collared Starling Asian Pied Starling Chestnut-tailed Starling Purple-backed Starling Grosbeak Starling Asian Glossy Starling Splendid Starling Superb Starling Golden-breasted Starling Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo [unlabelled] Red-billed Blue Magpie San Blas Jay MAMMALS: Greater Mouse Deer Lesser Mouse Deer Chital REPTILES: Saltwater Crocodile [did not see] Green Iguana [did not see] Reticulated Python Pig-nosed Turtle [unlabelled] Red-eared Slider Amboina Box Turtle [did not see]
I'm reading this while having lunch (next to the Dead Sea) and my salivating has nothing to do with the food! That's some list and thanks for typing it up. I'll compare it to my list of birds photographed but know at a glance that there is a substantial number of firsts for me there.
I was actually thinking about you whilst I was at the bird park. Just bear in mind what I wrote (except for the walk-throughs): "The ability to get good photos of the birds depended very much on which direction the aviary faced – some were fine, others had the sun glaring right off the wire which just washed them out." I don't think I got any good photos of the falconets for example. But you could spend a long time indeed inside the main walk-through. This place really made me think what a great place somewhere in southeast Asia would be to own a fantastic bird park: cheap wages, materials and food; good climate; an awesome variety of birds; and a real chance for proper conservation and educational efforts.
I counted 208 species on your list and approximately 95 of them are new species to me, so next time in Thailand or Singapore I must make a diversion to visit this collection. Noted though what you've said about the difficulty photographing some of the birds.
lots of photos now in the gallery: Penang Bird Park Gallery There is some variation in quality due to the factors mentioned earlier..... Many birds I couldn't get photos of at all unfortunately, for various reasons.
