New! Virtual Classes for Adults, with the National Aviary
Looking for a way to get closer to nature? Consider doing so online through one of the National Aviary’s new Virtual Classes! Two new programs, Virtual Classes with a National Aviary Educator, and Virtual Classes with National Aviary Ornithologist Robert S. Mulvihill, offer engaging and interactive opportunities for groups of all sizes, with multiple options for personal care homes, independent living facilities, or even a Bridge group! Once your group registers and the date is confirmed, getting connected to your class is as easy as clicking a button!
New! Aviary Insider Tour
New! Visit the National Aviary online by taking the Aviary Insider Tour, included with the purchase of a Virtual Membership!
Learn More!Virtual Classes with a National Aviary Educator
Journey across the globe from the comfort of your own home as you learn about different penguin species! Or virtually “hang” with your friends and learn all about sloths and their unique adaptations. Virtual Classes allows you to learn about these species from National Aviary experts as well as how conservation efforts play a vital part in helping endangered species grow.
Offerings for Virtual Classes Include:
Penguins Are Cool
Discover all 18 species of penguin on a virtual journey across the globe as you learn how these unique, flightless birds survive in their various habitats.
All About Sloths
What animal is brown but can turn green, spends their whole life upside down, and moves at the astonishing speed of six miles per hour? It’s a sloth! Come “hang” with us as we learn all about these amazing animals and their unique adaptations.
Birds and Conservation
Explore the impacts humans and environmental factors have on the decline of various species, and discover how the conservation efforts of zoos, scientists, and every day community members have led once-endangered species to make a comeback.
For pricing and to register your group for Virtual Class programming, email education.programs@aviary.org
Virtual Classes with National Aviary Ornithologist Robert S. Mulvihill
Interested in learning the National Aviary’s ongoing strategies are for promoting bird conservation? Or maybe you want to learn the basics for birdwatching in the Pittsburgh area. Discover answers to these and more in our new Virtual Classes with Bob, priced affordably for groups of any size!
We Do Bird Conservation
There is a great deal of work behind the scenes that positively impacts bird conservation around the world. This program will focus on what it is that our visitors may not know about the National Aviary: its successes and ongoing strategies for promoting bird conservation.
Identify that Bird!
Have you ever wondered what they all are—those birds flying overhead, the flock gathered in your backyard, the birds singing as you hike along a woodland trail? This course will introduce you to the basics of bird watching and bird ID, tailored for the Pittsburgh area. You will learn how to select and use binoculars; what to notice when you see a bird in order to identify it; what books and apps are available to help with identification; and more!
Birding By Ear
Birds exhibit a remarkable diversity of vocalizations, including elaborate songs and distinctive call notes, and birding by ear is a great way to enjoy noticing birds around you at times when you may not be able to see them. In this class you will learn the basics of bird songs—how to categorize them and identify them—starting with Pittsburgh area birds, but including those that call the National Aviary home!
What’s Good for Birds is Good for Your Backyard
By creating bird-friendly habitat for birds you reduce the amount of time spent lawn-mowing, you reduce or eliminate your use of garden pesticides and herbicides, and you give yourself a beautiful living landscape that is healthier for you, your children, your pets, and wild birds. This class will give you a place to start in thinking about ways you can change your yard to be more attractive and productive for birds and, at the same time, happier and healthier for you!
Hummingbirds
Bob will introduce you to the brilliant plumages, acrobatic aerial displays, and incredible adaptations of some of the world’s 330-plus species of hummingbirds. He will also talk about his own research into the biology of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, his discovery in Costa Rica of the first-ever nest of a Green-crowned Brilliant, and his banding study of species of hummingbirds from the western U.S. that are increasingly finding their way to western Pennsylvania!