Last Updated on April 5, 2024, 11:39 AM | Published: April 5, 2024
The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden sends this information as posted below:
The Oklahoma City Zoo’s annual Animal Awareness Days continue with the next event going to the birds! Fly out to the OKC Zoo for Bird Awareness Day on Saturday, April 6 to learn about our world’s beloved birds and the importance of protecting this vast and vital animal group.
Bird fans will have the opportunity to connect with the OKC Zoo’s experts as they share their knowledge about the many feathered friends that call the Zoo home. Enjoy interactive education stations, special animal enrichment activities, seeing bird ambassadors up-close, caretaker chats, and more planned from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Children’s Zoo and Dan Moran Aviary areas. Guests are encouraged to go all in and wear their best flamingo pink for the celebration. Plus, Zoo-goers will receive a free water bottle courtesy of Shape Your Future, a program of TSET, while supplies last. Water bottles will be given away beginning at 10 a.m. as guests enter the park. Bird is the word for the Zoo’s Facebook live caretaker chat at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Learn more here.
All Bird Awareness Day activities are free with regular Zoo admission.
From bobwhite quail to ostrich, OKC Zoo cares for 77 species of birds, approximately 300 individual animals, that are popular highlights of the Children’s Zoo, Oklahoma Trails Aviary, Expedition Africa, Sanctuary Asia, the Sam Moore Gardens, the newly renovated Dan Moran Aviary, and other areas throughout the park. However, many of the birds that Zoo guests will encounter have wild counterparts that are in trouble.
Through its conservation efforts, the Zoo is acting globally and locally to help protect bird populations. Since 1970, the bird population of North America has dropped 29%, a loss of about three billion birds across almost all habitats. Contributing factors for population decline include habitat loss, building collisions, and predation from domesticated cats. A global threat to birds is the exotic pet trade. Annually millions of live birds are traded illegally and sold into the live pet trade, a process that most animals do not survive. The OKC Zoo supports the Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA)’s Not a Pet campaign aimed to educate people about what animals make good pets.
But there is hope! The OKC Zoo has provided a portion of its Round Up for Conservation Fund to the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville to complete a new five-year Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas. The document will give researchers insight into bird population trends, ensuring conservation efforts are as effective as can be. Zoo crew members have helped with conducting breeding bird surveys since 2020 and will continue to provide support this spring and summer. AZA’s Saving Animals from Extinction: SAFE program for North American Songbirds (NAS) is another initiative the Zoo supports. Guests are able to observe an example of the Zoo’s commitment to the SAFE NAS program in-person at the Zoo’s Oklahoma Trails habitat, which features specially-designed glass to prevent bird strikes. Much more than an aesthetic choice, these designs provide a visual for birds to recognize animal habitat glass as a physical barrier.
Caring about and conserving our world’s birds is necessary for our environment and all species, including humans. Guests that make a donation to conservation during the Bird Day celebration will receive a voucher good for a free plush bird. It’s a win(g)-win(g)!
Make your bird day visit a memorable one by participating in the Zoo’s feeding experiences with flamingos and lorikeets! Flamingo Mingle is available daily from 9:30 to 10 a.m. and 3:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and Explorikeet feedings occur daily. Both experiences take place in the Children’s Zoo and additional fees apply. For additional information, visit okczoo.org.
Take the flock to the Zoo for Bird Awareness Day on April 6. The Oklahoma City Zoo is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with the last entry no later than 4 p.m. Purchase advance Zoo admission tickets at okczoo.org/tickets and avoid the entry lines. Located at the crossroads of I-44 and I-35, the OKC Zoo is a proud member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the American Alliance of Museums, and Oklahoma City’s Adventure District. Zoo admission is $16 for adults and $13 for children ages 3-11 and seniors ages 65 and over. Children two and under are admitted free. Membership has its perks! As a ZOOfriends member of the Oklahoma City Zoo, enjoy free admission all year-long, plus many additional benefits and discounts. You will also be supporting the Zoo’s animal family, education programming and conservation initiatives both locally and globally. Join or renew today at www.okczoo.org/membership.
Stay connected with the Zoo on Facebook, X, Instagram, Linktree and TikTok, and by visiting our blog stories. To learn more about Zoo happenings, call (405) 424-3344 or visit okczoo.org.
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