Bird Kingdom is an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages. Avi ...

in the tourist district of

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census. It is part of the List of census ...

, Canada. Opened in May 2003, it is the largest free flying indoor aviary in the world. The attraction encompasses approximately , and houses over 350 birds, the majority of which come from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It is also home to mammals, reptiles and amphibians which are part of educational programs. Bird Kingdom has been voted a top family attraction in Niagara Falls and was inducted into the Trip Advisor Hall of Fame in 2016.

Areas

Small Bird Aviary

This section of the aviary houses smaller birds. The Small Aviary houses over fifty types of birds, among which are some endangered and rare species. It overlooks the

Niagara Gorge Niagara Gorge is an long canyon carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends downriver at the edge ...

, a well known bird watching spot and bird breeding ground. yellow-hooded blackbird

Night Jungle

An area where nocturnal animals can be seen. Egyptian Fruit Bats, Owls and other creatures of the night can be found in the ancient ruins of the night jungle.

Main Aviary

The $16 million section of Bird Kingdom consists of of rainforest and houses 350 birds. Those birds represent approximately 80 species from around the globe, which live in the tropical environment. In addition to the birds, there is also a tall waterfall. Visitors are able to feed lorikeets, and take self-guided tours.

Javanese House

Bird Kingdom houses the only authentic Javanese nobleman's house in North America. The house was hand carved with solid teak wood and constructed without nails. In the 19th century, houses like this were for the aristocratic class. The front door of the house faces south, supposedly facing the sea. The intricate carving on the roof shows visitors that the house was for a nobleman.

History

In 1908, the Spirella Corset Company built a four-story concrete building on the current site of the aviary. By 1958, the company had shrunk in size, resulting in the company's moving their location to a smaller facility. The building was purchased that year by Jacob Sherman, who owned the Niagara Falls Museum. Sherman then renovated the building extensively, adding a five-story viewing tower while also moving 700,000 artifacts to the building. It was discovered later that the museum had been home to the actual mummy of King

Ramesses I Menpehtyre Ramesses I (or Ramses) was the founding pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 19th Dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292–1290 BC is frequently cited as well as 1295–1294 BC. While R ...

. By that time of that discovery, however, the museum was closed and the mummy back in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. The museum was operated by the Sherman family until 1999, when the maintenance of the building and artifacts became too costly. Most of the artifacts were sold or returned to their place of origin. Larry Vann, a resident of the Niagara area, purchased the museum building. Over the next few years, $15 million was spent on renovations to the building. The renovations included a large addition to the south side of the old museum building. In June 2003, the building re-opened as Bird Kingdom at the Niagara Falls Aviary.History of Niagara Falls Museum
. Retrieved 2010-12-27.

Gallery

File:BlueGreyTanager.jpg,

Blue-grey tanager The blue-gray tanager (''Thraupis episcopus'') is a medium-sized South American songbird of the tanager family, Thraupidae. Its range is from Mexico south to northeast Bolivia and northern Brazil, all of the Amazon Basin, except the very south. I ...

,
''Thraupis episcopus'' File:CollaredFinchbilBulbul.jpg,

Collared finchbill The collared finchbill (''Spizixos semitorques'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and brist ...

,
''Spizixos semitorques'' File:VictoriaCrownedPigeon.jpg, Victoria crowned pigeon,
''Goura victoria'' File:RedcrestedTuraco.jpg, Red-crested turaco,
''Tauraco erythrolophus'' File:RedCheekedCordonBleu.jpg,

Red-cheeked cordon-bleu The red-cheeked cordon-bleu or red-cheeked cordonbleu (''Uraeginthus bengalus'') is a small passerine bird in the family Estrildidae. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in drier regions of tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. Red-cheeked co ...

,
''Uraeginthus bengalus'' File:Hybrid tauraco -Bird Kingdom, Niagara Falls, Canada-8a (1).jpg, Hybrid

white-cheeked turaco The white-cheeked turaco (''Menelikornis leucotis'') is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. A mid-sized species, it measures about in length, including a tail of , and weighs about . ...

x red-crested turaco,
''Tauraco leucotis''

Notes

External links

Tour Information
{{coord, 43, 05, 33, N, 79, 04, 06, W, type:landmark, name=Niagara Falls Aviary, display=title Aviaries in Canada Buildings and structures in Niagara Falls, Ontario Tourist attractions in Niagara Falls, Ontario Zoos in Ontario