Slender Lorises, Duct Tape, and Whataburger: A Fish on Dry Land

I wasn't going to mention it, but you most certainly were In fairness: despite my best efforts to personally do what I could I ended up sending you a lot of photos for IDs and confirmations, so it's understandable you wouldn't immediately remember all of them!

 

Well it's in a funky position and I missed the yellow at the bill base first go. Still should have gotten that!

 

My Brazilian Teal claim is the bird below the Eider facing right, with a Ruddy Duck’s head facing left over it’s tail.

 

Ah, we weren't talking about the same bird. I'm pretty sure that bird is a female Ringed Teal. It has a broken white eyeline vs two white spots at the front of the head.
The bird I was looking at is in sleep position below the whistler, looking at it today I'm thinking just a Ruddy.

 

Ah, I see. I initially thought you meant that bird because it does have some Brazilian Teal-like characteristics, but then I thought maybe I was mistaken when Argus replied to you about a different bird. I'm inclined to agree with them that it's a female Ringed Teal based on the eyeline.

 

And in true Scientific fashion, with more evidence (ie I actually looked at the field guides!), I am changing my mind; this bird is clearly a Female Ringed Teal! Time to actually look at more South American ducks; mind you, I actually saw the males of both species in the wild, so didn’t grill the females.

 

Chapter 11: Getting My Ducks In a Row: A Journey Into the Waterfowl Kingdom

It’s unfortunate that the United States doesn’t really have any equivalent to Walsrode Weltvogelpark in Europe, and that bird-focused collections are very rare here when compared to that continent. However, of the bird collections we *do* have the largest might be Sylvan Heights Bird Park. This place has been on my bucket list for a while, but it was on the backburner for a long time because of its remoteness. However, after realizing that driving an alternate route up towards the East Coast (my next destination) could put me within 15-20 minutes of Sylvan Heights while only adding a couple hours to an already long drive, I decided I might as well do it. I even planned my drive specifically to happen on the last day before the temperatures dropped back below 60 F / 15 C so that seeing tropical birds outside wouldn’t be a problem.

Even with my advance planning, though, Scotland Neck (the small town where Sylvan Heights is located) is in the middle of the North Carolinian sticks. Getting to the park involved driving for what felt like a long time on empty country roads criss-crossing the land beyond the freeway. The entrance involves driving down a gravel road that goes past some warehouses and farmland. It’s easily the most remote zoo I’ve ever been to (though in fairness, it’s only 90 minutes from Raleigh and 105 minutes from Norfolk... so if you’re based in either of those cities it’s an easy day trip). The impressive bird collection masks itself behind a modest gravel parking lot and wooden entrance building... but it’s now belied by their new aviary complex that I could see through the trees from my car! Now, come along with me for a tour of America’s premier waterfowl kingdom.

Sylvan Heights Bird Park
Location: Scotland Neck, North Carolina
Size: ~7.5 acres (excluding nature walk areas)
Species Count: ~240 spp (~115 of which are waterfowl)
Unvisited/Closed Areas: none
Noteworthy Species: all the waterfowl (just name one, it’s there), shorebirds (Ruff, Willet, Oystercatcher, Egyptian Plover, Senegal Thick-knee), Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise, African Fish Eagle, Buff-bellied Bustard, Green Pygmy Goose, Flying Steamer Duck, Southern Lapwing, Mulga Parrot, and several more
Price: $15 admission
Recommended Time: 3 to 4 hours
Species List: Sylvan Heights Species List - Dec 2021 [Sylvan Heights Bird Park]
Media Gallery: https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/categories/sylvan-heights-bird-park.2870/

Sylvan Heights had a ton of birds well before they were open to the public as a bird park; the founders, Mike and Ali Lubbock, began the collection as a waterfowl breeding center in the 1980’s and opened the public bird park in 2006 – making this, in fact, one of the newest American zoos of note. Besides what might be America’s largest collection of waterfowl (~115 species on-display alone!), the park has a wide variety of other birds including raptors, shorebirds, toucans, fruit doves, rare passerines, pheasants, ratites, corvids, flamingos, and cranes scattered throughout its numerous cages and aviaries. As far as I’ve been able to find, nobody had posted a full species list on the forum before I did, and I’ve now roughly doubled the size of the media gallery... so if anyone said they didn’t have a good idea of what the place has and looks like before, there’s no excuse now!

The waterfowl aviaries are spacious, well-planted, well-landscaped, and with mostly generous ponds and pools for its aquatic inhabitants. The non-waterfowl (at least the ones who aren’t in the waterfowl aviaries) are housed in a wide variety of makeshift enclosures: chain-link yards, wood-and-wire cages, a corn-crib cage, a tropic building that appears to be wood-and-mesh for the summer and glass/plastic-walled in the colder months, and a brand-new set of mesh aviaries with concrete-and-mesh cages lining one side. Much of it looks very DIY and many of these cages and enclosures are visually unappealing, but for a facility focused primarily on breeding waterfowl it’s not entirely surprising. A brand new mesh aviary complex appears to have replaced a few smaller wood-and-wire cages, which suggests the collection may be slowly moving towards incorporating its non-waterfowl collection into newer accommodations. In any case, the gems here are not the enclosures but the birds – and it’s hard to imagine anyone who’s into birds leaving disappointed!

The entrance is interesting and quite nice; the entrance building looks like a renovated former home, with a warm wooden interior. Once you step out on the other side, you’re immediately thrown into the thick of things: the entrance aviary, with a flock of flamingos and random assorted waterfowl bathing, grazing, floating and scoting across the pond:





The waterfowl aviaries are divided up by continent; a fairly easy path takes you through Eurasia, North America, and South America while also passing by various side yards for cranes, storks, seriema and more rare waterfowl. Signage is posted for most of the species (unsigned birds were not an uncommon sight) on large wooden notice boards in front of the path. Most of the waterfowl were located on the opposite side from where the path was; however, one can also see them easily and closer up from the main path that runs along the back side of the aviaries. Passing through here you’ll find such delights as whooping cranes whooping; bobwhite quail rushing in and out of the bushes; a flock of nene grazing along the hillside; sleeping Steamer Ducks; and macaws flapping their wings and croaking from their perches while ibises roost in the trees and various Neotropical ducks toddle around below.

These aviaries are like birding on steroids; in my head I imagined myself casually strolling along and snapping photos like an avid photographer, but in reality I probably looked like a lunatic with a camera – smashing the shutter button like it was a Playstation controller while swinging around wildly in various directions, muttering dichotomous keys under my breath like I was casting incantations at geese. Fortunately the park had very few visitors on this mild December day, so good luck finding a witness to corroborate any of that






I won’t go through every aviary or species in detail; the aviaries are all very similar in everything except species, and the species are numerous and interesting throughout. I will highlight the new aviary complex, since I am the first one to upload photos of it since it opened. This is one of three walk-through aviaries in the park that is not focused primarily on waterfowl; there are a few of those in here, but the collection is a mix of parrots, pigeons, shorebirds, and a row of side enclosures for rarities such as Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise, Mulga Parrot, Green Pygmy Goose and Buff-bellied Bustard. Although the aviary is meant to be for Australasian species primarily, the bustard and several unsigned residents suggested more of a mix; American Oystercatchers, Willet, and European Blackbird inhabit it as well. The layout in here is more terrestrial, with large walkways and small ponds.






Nearby is a small wood-and-wire cage for a pair of Kookaburras. Some of you may remember my kerfuffle with these birds in Oklahoma. Clearly they’d had time to exchange messages on Beakbook (the avian social media site founded by Mark Zuckerbird) because I’d hardly approached them when I heard ominous gular vibrations. “Don’t bother, I’m leaving,” I said and turned away. I didn’t look back, but their angry braying could be heard to Raleigh and back. I’ve said before that corvids are the bird I’d be most afraid to go to war with; should I have spent more time heeding the warnings of warriors from down under? At this rate, any future visit to Australia is going to require body armor...

Not far from the new aviary is Wings of the Tropics, the zoo’s only indoor exhibit area (although by the looks of gallery photos, it might be open-air during the summer?). The building is surrounded by mostly opaque panels, which have clearly been tacked on to an existing structure of wood and concrete. This follows a similar pattern to the new aviary, with a free-flight room to walk through on one side and several side enclosures across from it. This is where many of the park’s non-waterfowl rarities can be found: a flock of Ruff, a Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, unsigned Egyptian Plover, jacanas, waxbills, pygmy geese, Guinea Turaco, cowbirds, tinamous, and a pair of African Fish Eagles. The building was completely empty except for myself, a keeper or two, and a maintenance guy; I chuckled as we scooted past each other on the narrow path, both of us walking back and forth across the aviary for different reasons. The building is small, but even so I didn’t manage to find every bird on the signage. Photography through the tightly-woven mesh proved difficult; it took me a couple solid minutes to get any decent Ruff photos for all of you! Anyway, here’s one of them and some others:






Other highlights included a curious Black-throated Magpie-jay; an aviary for White-winged Ducks (which Sylvan Heights breeds and does other conservation work with); a couple of juvenile cassowaries eating out of a bowl together; and an Emu that either wanted to hug me or body-slam me across the fence. Attitudes ranged from a Snow Goose trying to eat me through the chain-link to a Cape Barren Goose that adult-imprinted on me the moment I walked into its aviary. Birds sure do have personalities!



Pictured: my new best bud (and second friend on Beakbook!)

When I checked my phone and saw I had 15 minutes left, I strolled over to the one part of the park I’d skipped. I’d skipped it on purpose; I thought, “If I run out of time, I can just shrug my shoulders and tell everyone, ‘Oops, I did what I could!’” Yet here I was, standing across from it with time to spare... the feeding aviary. I’d sworn these off after Nashville, but I knew this time I shouldn’t. Far from there being a single rare turaco in there, I could literally see flamingos through the mesh; there was a lot more than just cockatiels and budgies in there. Grumbling to myself, I entered the aviary at my own peril.

It didn’t take long for me to cover myself in my sweatshirt despite the comfortably mild temperature. The menace of the day was not lorikeets, but Sun Conures. Saying that an animal deserves to be endangered is a hard sell for this crowd, I know... but as I looked this beautiful golden parakeet in the eye while it chewed a hole through my sleeve, I knew in my heart that in that moment my sympathy for their plight was severely lacking. My green hoodie adorned with golden feathered ornaments like the world’s worst Christmas tree, I shuffled through the aviary as fast as possible while shooing them away from biting the camera. The signage suggested quite a few unusual species for a feeding aviary, but ultimately I didn’t take the time to find any of them. Can we get rid of these things? If these parrots were ever released into the wild they’d terrorize towns like a real-life episode of Zoo. I fear for our collective safety. Anyway, you’re welcome and also I’m never doing this again.




I ended up spending 3 hours in this small park, which was just the right amount of time to see everything; that being said, I easily could have spent another hour or two on a second walkthrough looking for everything I had missed. My camera totaled nearly 800 photos by the end, my second-largest haul this year only to Memphis. Painstaking hours were spent on species IDs, list drafting, conferring with other forum members, online research, and photo sorting. Was it for the glory, or was it as a resource for future members planning their own journey into the heart of the waterfowl kingdom? I’ll never tell one way or another.


My poker face

Fast Food Byte of the Day: Why Fast Food?

After mulling through my options, I decided that I would only do one more food review; it’s being saved for another day, and its origin isn’t exactly American. Therefore, I decided to take this opportunity to give a reflection on a simple question: why fast food?

Obviously fast food is not the healthiest thing to put in your body, and it’s easy to find other reasons not to celebrate it or the companies that own them. Regardless, it’s an integral part of American culture in this day and age. I consume it myself for a number of reasons: cost, convenience, frequent traveling, a health profile that compensates. And frankly, because part of me genuinely likes it; there’s something satisfying and nostalgic about getting excited for fried chicken, chowing down on a questionably-named burrito in a parking lot to avoid your roommates, or scrolling online forums with a forkful of General Tso’s chicken awaiting consumption.

Even though they're off topic - and surprisingly yielded the most fierce debates in this thread - it seems like many of the Americans identify with them as well and it was fascinating to hear input from the non-Americans. I'm glad we mostly stay true to focus on this forum, but now and then it's nice to be reminded that we're all people in the outside world too - with thoughts and opinions about things that don't involve animals (live ones, anyway )

Aside

Someone asked me recently how many reviews are left to go. The short answer is, maybe one - but it's not 100% decided. I have 2 or 3 more I *could* do, but for multiple reasons I think this thread has just about run its course and I'd like to move on to other projects and real life responsibilities soon. Everything must come to an end eventually, and two months seems long enough

 

Thanks, you've just added a new zoo to my 'must-see' list.

 

Yet another excellent review and potential conclusion to an overall amazing thread. I've been spending a lot of time researching Sylvan Heights over the past few weeks in preparation for an upcoming project you already know about, and this review plus the species list and the huge amount of photos you've uploaded will be a great asset in that regard.

Thank you again for a fantastic travel report. From instigating standoffs with kookaburras and sloth bears, to sampling America's not so fine dining, and course visiting over a dozen zoos of both quality and crummy calibers. Even if you decide this is the end, it has been a wonderful read and the species lists and media uploads that came along with every review are sincerely appreciated.

 

Thank you for your review and species list. I also apologize for missing your message about the park before you visited. I need to get better at checking and replying to those.

But I am glad you had a great time. Sylvan Heights is truly an amazing park, with so much to see and a relaxing atmosphere. Its great to see it get more exposure on this site as since I began visiting it has progressed from a waterfowl park to a comprehensive bird park with a variety of new species added. The ruff were a personal favorite though. I loved seeing a flock of 20+ birds, especially when the males were in breeding plumage.

 

Another great review as always Coelacanth. This seems like an interesting facility, That waterfowl collection is unprecedented!

 

No worries credit is still due to you for providing news updates and information about the park on the forum, as well as to @jayjds2 whose 2016 photos started the process of visually representing and recording the zoo and its evolution in the media gallery. It's possible the place never would have stuck out on my radar were it not for you! Hopefully my review and photos will expand the net a bit further still.

That would be a sight to see... I unfortunately missed the breeding plumage, but I hope to one day go back at the right time of year and see it for myself!

 

As said before and elsewhere I'm not the biggest fan of waterfowl, and IDing a hundred species seems like a nightmare for me, so great respect for doing all.
This is certainly an interesting facility though. The only problem for me is the exhibit looks a bit "meh". But I guess you dont need a lot of trees and other forms of enrichment for waterfowls. You just need a lake and a few space.

 

I think the exhibits could definitely be improved, but I think the collection makes up for that.

 

I'm going to be the one to point out the irony in the problematic bird being a sun conure, a species you're requiring we all see for the NA challenge

It's a shame that a place with such an amazing species list doesn't seem to have great photo ops, given how much birders love taking photos. Ah well. You managed some nice ones!

 

Sure it does. Also the fact it's winter is also an important factor. You can't get lush and huge exhibits like Jurong's. (Although Jurong don't focus on waterfowl)