Smithsonian National Zoo: Aviary, part 1 of 3 - The Coastal Shores

 Anyone who keeps up with my Zoo posts knows that I have two particular structural loves at the zoos and aquariums.  First, Herpetariums, a.k.a. Reptile and/or Amphibian Houses.  And Second, Aviaries!  

Sometimes the quality of one or both of these can determine my impression of the entire facility.  

I love them because they are animal experience dense.  And when done well, both the visitor and the residents have wonderful experiences.  Of Course, a shitty version of either is pure hell.  Animals kept in cages... unacceptable.  Birds arrived at the National Zoo as early as 1900.  They were displayed in dispersed cages at first, and then those were clustered into a bird focused area.

The 1928 entrance is preserved in the lobby.

The Bird House, as the National Zoo in Washington, DC calls it, was first opened in 1928.  It was the height of the money rich, "roaring" 1920's!  The design and details were magnificent, and the birds were kept in spaces that allowed for maximum movement at the time.  Over the years up-grades happened and when I first visited it in the late 1990's, it was a passable, if dated Aviary.

What I couldn't see was how the bones were wearing thin.  The infrastructure was in need of a major upgrade, and in for a penny, in for a pound seemed a reasonable approach, versus the all too familiar "band Aide" option.  So in 2017, the Bird House closed.  

The new design was intended to occupy the original foot print, incorporate as much of the original, architecturally brilliant and historically significant building as possible, while also making across the board state-of-the-art upgrades based on a Gold Standard LEED rating.  Price tag?  $69,000,000.00!  The most expensive and ambitious project ever undertaken at the zoo.  Though I grant that factoring in inflation, this is an arguable statement.  

Enter the fuck-fest that was the Covid pandemic, and timelines are screwed.  But even this came to it's fruition in 2023.  The new design, full of features that create a sense of flight, is dedicated to the migration of birds across the Western Hemisphere. 

It is divided into three interactive, multi-species regional habitats.

1) The Delaware Shore: With a winding path through a room with large coastal shoreline water features that mimic tidal movements.  Natural plantings, multiple species of fish as well as both shore birds and coastal song birds.  

2) Prairie "Pot Holes": features a look at interior wetlands, but the bulk of the birds presented are more likely to be found in near Atlantic Ocean marshes of the eastern Piedmont (the Carolina's, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware).

3) The South American Nexus of annual migration, the Brazilian highland Coffee Plantation.  This fills the historic heart of the original Bird House, and focuses on species of song birds with long-range migration routes.

It is so easy to completely lose one's self in the magic of these environments, that I have to divide this record of my visit into three parts.  So we commence our visit with the Delaware Shore!  

The design guides visitors on a migration of their own starting with a turn to the right.  Wall text throughout is in both English and Spanish.  Que Perfecto, no?

This leads to a room with huge portraits of birds.  The perfect place to assemble a group of school children prior to entering the interactive bird spaces.

WELCOME TO THE DELAWARE SHORE

The right side habitat.  A similar configuration is on the left and birds are free to choose where to spend their time.  Natural like supports a natural cycle of day and night.  All the vegetation is living, and again, the aquatic features are home to various fish and have a built in tidal motion mechanism so that you can watch as the sea grasses ebb and flow--but wait, there's more.  The strength of those currents also varies to better mimic the actual tidal forces.  It's honestly like nothing else I have ever seen anywhere.

Black-necked Stilt

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Sanderling pic photo-bombed by a Semipalmated Plover! (far right)

Americans Golden Plover

The close-ups don't fully depict the absolute flocks of shore birds that inhabit the space.  The are, like their Songbird companions, oblivious to the humans passing through which gives visitors who who care to linger amazing opportunities to view their natural world in an exceptionally well designed facsimile.

Blue Bunting

The Blue Bunting Preens in the company of a Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-capped Chickadee