Canary’s Call

Canary’s Call Presented by Dollar Bank

Canary’s Call is an indoor immersive, museum-style habitat with interpretive displays that bring to life the stories that birds, as an indicator species, are telling.

Canaries As Bioindicators

Birds have long been indicators of the health of our natural environment, going back to when miners sent canaries into coal mines to warn of dangerous fumes. Through words, images, and interactive elements, birds tell the stories of the impacts of pollution, invasive species, overconsumption, and habitat loss on entire ecosystems around the globe. Today, wild birds serve as reliable indicators of many other environmental problems. By paying close attention to our wild bird populations everywhere, we can safeguard their populations and, at the same time, protect human health and well-being.

National Aviary Conservation Efforts

Canary perched on a branch
Island Canary
Malayan Flying Foxes hanging upside down from a branch
Malayan Flying Foxes

Canary’s Call Residents

Canary’s Call is home to the lively Rainbow Lorikeet habitat, where a vibrant flock of lorikeets and perch and chatter. Around the corner, find a pair of Extinct-in-the-Wild Guam Kingfishers (known locally as Sihek). This pair is part of the Sihek Recovery Project, and future hatchlings may eventually make their way into the wild! Adorable Burrowing Owls also reside in a desert-inspired habitat, generously sponsored by Duolingo.

Opened in 2019, the Andean Mountain habitat in Canary’s Call is home to striking and unusual birds from Latin America, never before seen in Pittsburgh, like the neon orange Andean Cock-of-the-rock, a forest-dwelling bird with a showy fan-shaped crest.

Another flying creature can be found in Canary’s Call? A colony of Malayan Flying Foxes, a megabat species native to Southeast Asia! These large fruit-eating bats have a nearly five-foot wingspan, revealing surprisingly cute faces when they stretch their wings.

Support Rainbow Lorikeets with a symbolic adoption! The Adopt-A-Bird program makes a great gift and helps us care for our flock!

Safeguarding Species

YOU can help protect our shared planet, thanks to tips and tricks from the National Aviary Green Team.

Learn More

Thank You to Our Canary’s Call Sponsor:

2024 Dollar Bank Logo

Thank You to Our Burrowing Owl Habitat Sponsor:

Duolingo logo

In The News

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How to attract orioles to your yard this spring | National Geographic

These songbirds have a conspicuous sweet tooth—but experts say putting out oranges and other fruits isn't the only way to turn your backyard into an oriole hotspot.

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4 peregrine chicks roost atop Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, one of the city’s most prolific falcon nurseries | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Carla and Ecco have their talons full with four peregrine falcon chicks at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning after four eggs hatched recently.

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Four peregrine falcon eggs hatch in nest on top of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning | CBS News

There are four peregrine falcon chicks in the nest on top of the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning after all the eggs hatched.

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3 peregrine falcon chicks hatch in Cathedral of Learning nest | MSN

High above the crowds in Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft, the team of a beloved peregrine falcon pair was growing.

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The National Aviary’s football connections | Pittsburgh Today Live

Just steps from where all the action will take place sits the largest indoor aviary in the country! Team PTL's Daisy Jade went over to the National Aviary and learned that there is a football connection!

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