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Adventures in Birding at the National Zoo

Bird lovers, take note: You need not don a safari hat or trek through remote jungles to find rare and exotic birds from around the world. Look no farther than the Smithsonian's National Zoo, where, at your leisure, you can see more than 100 bird species from six continents.

Toco toucan
A toco toucan at the National Zoo. (Jessie Cohen/NZP)

Where better to start than the Bird House—the undisputed epicenter of avian exhibits at the National Zoo. The inside of the building is a birder's delight, with so many birds under one roof that it resembles a living, breathing bazaar of colorful displays from distant lands. Where else on Earth is the South American toco toucan, with its preposterous yellow bill, a close neighbor of the African pygmy falcon and the rare Micronesian kingfisher? Nearly invisible barriers make it easy for you to see and hear the birds here; and in the Indoor Flight Room you can walk among a dozen species, including tanagers, doves, and a sunbittern flying free through a jungle habitat.

You'll find a bird to suit any mood in the open-air enclosures outside the Bird House. For a dose of serenity, pause beside elegant cranes, revered in some cultures as sacred. Need an eye-opener? The hot pink plumage of the scarlet ibis is sure to wake you up. The ducks' comical waddles are good for a chuckle, and thrill seekers should stop to see the deadliest Zoo bird—the double-wattled cassowary—which can kill a person with its fierce kicks and sharp claws.

In temperate weather from May to October, visit the Great Flight Exhibit, a vast outdoor enclosure with a pond and waterfall that features Asian birds on the wing and a peafowl strutting its stuff. Or, to get a little closer to one of the Bird House's most peculiar inhabitants, meet a kiwi, a flightless bird from New Zealand, at 11 a.m. any Monday, Wednesday, or Friday of the year.

A thorough birding expedition does not end at the Bird House, however; feathered creatures can be found throughout the Zoo, sometimes cohabiting with other species. Near the top of the hill, an emu lives with a kangaroo; farther down at the Small Mammal House, Von der Decken's hornbills share space with black-and-rufous giant elephant-shrews. Hummingbirds hover among the butterflies in the Pollinarium, and free-flying tropical birds, including a macaw, enliven Amazonia. At Kids' Farm, three varieties of ducks and six varities of chickens represent some of the world's domesticated birds.

Beaver Valley is the place to see North American raptors, including bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and Harris' hawks. If you yearn to learn more about them, listen to a keeper talk and watch an eagle feeding every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bald Eagle Refuge.

As you travel from one exhibit to the next, keep an eye out for wild birds. Woodpeckers, hawks, and many others are year-round Zoo residents, while some, like the black-crowned night heron, are migrants that make the Zoo their seasonal home. Behind the scenes, Zoo scientists at the Migratory Bird Center study such migrants in the U.S. and abroad.

To plan your birding adventure at the National Zoo, to learn more about the birds you saw here, or to get the latest scoop on Zoo scientists' work with birds, visit the Zoo's website often. It's the ultimate luxury—birding from the comfort of your favorite armchair.

—Shannon Lyons

ZooGoer 34(3) 2005. Copyright 2005 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.

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