by The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Penn is the largest aviary in the US. It is not government-operated as the “national” in its title implies, but an independent non-profit that was accorded honorary “National” status by the United States Congress. It opened in 1952 and has over 500 birds and animals (150 species); it has one of the most diverse collections in North America.
The Aviary makes every attempt to do their feedings in a way the public can see, and for just $3 per dish of nectar, you can feed the Lorikeets. Yes, please! It’s a relatively short encounter, but still thrilling nonetheless. You enter the enclosure and the Lorikeets don’t wait for an invitation, they swoop down on you – one, then two, then maybe three or more! They are gentle but it’s still an odd feeling to have a bird walking up your bare arm. Their colors were absolutely brilliant and stunning! We really enjoyed it for the price; they also offer Penguin, Falcon, Sloth, Owl and other encounters, but those were more like $100 per person.
Most of the birds were flying around us in open habitats, which was really nice to see (though the danger of being pooped on was ever-present). Just a few birds, including a Golden Eagle, were in small enclosures, which always pains me and makes me hesitant to come to places like this. However, this was overall a lovely experience. Just as we were about to leave I overhead someone mention a sloth in one of the habitats that we had missed; we re-entered just as he was coming down to grab some snacks, so got to see him in “action”. We had one time had a super fortunate experience to see a sloth in the wild in Panama, and he truly moved in slow-motion; this sloth moved at a much quicker pace, just like me when a snack is on tap.
