We included a trip to the National Aviary on our 2019 Summer vacation a day after we visited the Pittsburgh Zoo. This was a nice change of pace, as we had visited different zoos the previous four days! The Aviary is as advertised – it’s all birds! They do highlight a few animals, but this is a bird-lover’s paradise. 90% of the Aviary is indoors, so it’s a good rainy day activity. They have hands-on opportunities throughout the day, and each doesn’t last particularly long, so you can schedule one on top of the other. Outside of these activities, you’re looking at about two hours in total for your visit.
Highlights:
- Wetlands – I’ll be honest here, the wetlands aren’t normally something I spend more than five minutes in. But here it was really cool. The birds can go anywhere in the exhibit, so several were on the benches. Take a look at the daily calendar and go to the feeding. Two of our daughters got to participating in a bird feeding, and then they offer the chance to feed pelicans for a minimal donation afterwards.’
- Rain Forest – There is a sloth living in the Rain Forest, which is fun to look for. It is also the most scenic of the zoos exhibits, and includes two blue macaws.
- Penguins – This was a fan favorite. The large windows give you good visibility to the penguins throughout the day.
- Amazing Amazon – This $5 show was well produced. It incorporated videos and live animals.
Lows:
- Tropical Birds – Outside of a small display for toucans and the blue macaws, there weren’t many tropical birds here. Despite being in Pittsburgh, the Aviary is indoors, so the temperatures shouldn’t be a problem. Some additional tropical birds would quickly become a top attraction.
- Needs more immersion exhibits – The Wetlands and Rain Forest are immersion exhibits, where the birds can come by the visitors. However, zoos typically have at least one of these. When you’re calling yourself the National Aviary, I’d like to see multiple exhibits where this is a possibility.
- Flamingos – I think they could do more with the flamingos. There is outside space – perhaps an outdoor exhibit with a feeding opportunity?
© 2019, Zoo With Us. All rights reserved.