Pittsburgh Aviary, installment 2

After the thrill of the wetlands birds, we had a little bit of time to kill before it was time to feed the lorikeets. Here's some of what we saw, although most of my pics of these inside exhibits turned out badly--not enough light, and I couldn't get close enough to the glass to focus on the bird rather than the wires running through the glass (which is there to prevent window strikes, I imagine). You can click for huge on all these pics.

One of my favorite birds was this ocellated turkey named Oscar:
I fell in love with ocellated turkeys after seeing them on Bill of the Birds' blog--remember? Isn't he the cutest little thing? He was all alone in there; otherwise, I'm sure he would've been a big hit with teh chicks.

This pretty Hyacinth Macaw was napping:
The lighting in the enclosure was weird--orange. Hence the weird photo.

We also passed some windows into the vet room, and they had these x-rays on display:
The top is an x-ray of a Barred Owl whose egg is bound, or stuck--which happens sometimes. Poor baby! It didn't say what they do in these cases, though--surgery? A laxative? On the bottom is an x-ray of a toucan's head and neck--the sign underneath says that beak is barely visible because it's mostly hollow, like a bird's bones.

Here's Gretchen posing by the bird sculptures:

And here's a pair of baldies that was hanging out in their enclosure:
Gretchen told me that one of these eagles has only one wing. Any guesses which one?

Finally it was time to feed the lorikeets!



So they let you into this little antechamber, where you can buy a little plastic cup of "nectar" (which looks kinda like pear juice). You then are free to go into the lorikeet enclosure and the birds just mob you! You have to be careful to keep them on your lower arm and hand, however, as the Aviary doesn't want them to get used to landing on shoulders or heads and then pecking and biting. Eek.

The birds are such fatties that it's all over before you know it. We ended up buying three little cups (total: $9!) but it was worth it. Those of you who've held a bird know the magical thrill of it; this was my first time to be this close to a bird. Even if it was in captivity, I'll never forget what it was like to feel them land on me; their grip was gentle but firm, not painful at all. I could've stayed in there all day, feeding those little piggies. I'm getting a little goosebumpy just thinking about it!

After the loris, it was time for the Tropical Rainforest Room, which was another amazing exhibit. I'll take you there tomorrow! (I love the cliffhanger!)