Did you know that there is a free-standing bird zoo in Pittsburgh? I had no idea that the National Aviary was so close to home! We love birds and were so excited to visit with our new blogger friends and Visit Pittsburgh friends!
I received admission to facilitate this post.
The National Aviary is home to 500 birds of 150 different species from around the world, many of them threatened or endangered in the wild. There are several free-flight exhibits that allow birds to free-fly all around you in environments that represent their native homes.
Our first stop were the Grasslands where we were able to walk though a free-flight exhibit that is home to Gouldian finches, paradise whydah, Sudan golden sparrows, shaft-tail finches, melba finches, and blue ground doves.
The exhibit was nicely designed with elements from the grasslands including plenty of greenery and trees like birch and dogwood.
Kids love Penguin Point because they get to become part of the exhibit by walking under the exhibit and popping their heads up through a Kids ViewTube where they can see the penguins up close in their exhibit.
This area is wheelchair accessible 18 African Penguins call Penguin Point home with a landscape of rocky shores just like South Africa. Penguins are my mom’s favorite, so she really enjoyed watching them waddle, squabble, and swim in this large exhibit.
Our visit to the Tropical Rainforest free-flight exhibit where you’ll see amazing birds flying all around. There was an educational show where we were able to feed the birds live grubs! Later, we tossed fish to the pelicans too.
From one free-flight area to the other, there are exhibits like the the eagles, which were amazing. I’ve never seen such large eagles and never so close.
There are even shows outside with a variety of birds that fly over the audience to the stage. It was so exciting to see them flying so close to us. We were even able to get up close and ‘feed’ the bird a dollar for him to place in the donation box for future programs. We really enjoyed how interactive the National Aviary was!
The Wetlands was our final free-flight exhibit. Here we visited birds including American flamingos, Brown pelicans, and Roseate spoonbills. It was very spacious with natural habitats resembling swamps, marshes, and bogs.
We even had the chance to feed nectar to lorikeet birds for a couple extra dollars. This was the highlight of our visit and I highly recommend it
Make plans to visit the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA soon. It is a wonderful place to experience and interact with birds of all kinds from around the world.
National Aviary
700 Arch St
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 323-7235
