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Queens Zoo News
Not Just for the Birds!
Aviary Now Open
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 North American porcupine Spanky lives with parents Sam and Patty along the newly renovated Aviary’s trail.
©WCS/photo by Julie Maher; video by Luke Groskin
| Flocks of waterfowl, small white herons known as cattle egrets, and a darling baby porcupine named Spanky are enjoying a newly refurbished home at the Queens Zoo. The Zoo’s renovated Aviary is now open to the public, and features updated railings and walkways in addition to many new bird species and plants. The renovations were made possible thanks to generous support from the office of Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.
Designed by engineer and inventor Buckminster Fuller, the Aviary’s geodesic dome was part of New York’s 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows. After the fair, the dome was dismantled and stored, but it took on a new life as a home to birds when the Queens Zoo opened in 1968. In 1992, when the Wildlife Conservation Society assumed the management of the Zoo, the Aviary’s habitats were remodeled to accommodate a variety of species and an interactive visitor trail.
Today the pathway through the newly reopened Aviary rambles from forest floor to treetops. Visitors can test their birding skills by keeping an eye out for 20 native avian species. Pintail ducks, northern shoveler ducks, and Eurasian wigeons are just some of the waterfowl that swim through bubbling pools, and cardinals and egrets perch in pines. This playground in the sky is open year-round, offering spectacular bird’s-eye-views both in summertime and on snowy winter days.
Admission to the Aviary is included in the ticket price for admission to the Zoo.
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