Range: Australasian

Spotted Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna guttata

FUN FACT

The name “whistling” duck comes from their loud whistling call.

The Spotted Whistling-duck is a distinctive duck species found in southeast Asia. Also known as the tree duck, it has long legs and a long neck compared to other ducks, and is very comfortable perching high up in trees. They favor low-lying wetlands, where they both dabble and dive for food which includes seeds and invertebrates; they are most active at night. This species is not globally threatened.

Spotted Whistling-Duck

Dendrocygna guttata
Australasian

Habitat

Low-lying wetlands, including marshes, river margins, mangroves, lakes, and ponds, surrounded by scattered trees and grasslands

Diet

Seeds and invertebrates (e.g., snails); both dabbles and dives for food

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

The Spotted Whistling-duck nests in hollow trees near standing water. 10-11 eggs are incubated for about 30 days.

SSP Logo
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

FUN FACT

Mallards are the source of all domestic ducks except for Muscovy Ducks.

A very common dabbling duck of the Nearctic region, and introduced elsewhere where it is sometimes considered an invasive pest, the Mallard occurs on almost any body of shallow water, but especially those with submerged or floating vegetation. In the breeding season the Mallard eats mostly animal foods such as aquatic insect larvae and snails, but at other times of year they favor seeds, aquatic vegetation, and cereal crops. The Mallard usually nests near water but on the ground  in upland areas, with the nest hidden under overhanging vegetation.

Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos
Afrotropical Australasian Indo-Malayan Nearctic Neotropical Palearctic

Habitat

Can occur on almost any body of shallow water, preferably with submerged, floating, emergent and riparian vegetation; commonly found in public parks that have ponds.

Diet

Eats mostly animal foods, including insects such as midge larvae (Chironomidae) and other aquatic insect larvae, snails, freshwater shrimp, and terrestrial earthworms. Outside of breeding season, diet is predominately seeds, tree mast (e.g., acorns), aquatic vegetation, and cereal crops (e.g., corn, rice, barley, wheat). Mallards often take human-provided food, such as bread, which is very unhealthy for them.

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Mallards usually nest on the ground in an upland area near water, under overhanging cover or in dense vegetation for concealment. Urban Mallards use a variety of additional cover types, including evergreens, ornamental shrubs, vines, gardens, woodpiles, and artificial structures such as docks and boats. Clutch size is usually between 5-10 eggs, and eggs are incubated for an average of 28 daays.  Young can fly (and fledge) about 50-60 days after hatching. 

Victoria Crowned Pigeon Goura victoria

FUN FACT

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon was named in honor of the British monarch, Queen Victoria.

Named for the British Monarch Queen Victoria, the Victoria Crowned Pigeon is without doubt a royal bird. Its dusty blue-grey feathers may remind one of the pigeons found on any city street, but the Crowned Pigeon’s elegant blue lace crest, scarlet eyes, and rakish black mask are unlike anything you’ll find pecking around in the city park. Add in the fact that this largest of all pigeons is nearly the size of a turkey, and you know you’re seeing something special.

Victoria Crowned Pigeons like to be in pairs or small groups, wandering the forests of New Guinea in search of the seeds and fallen fruits that make up most of their diet. Males will sometimes spar with each other during the breeding season — flaring their wings and puffing up their chests to look larger and more impressive for the females — but they tend to live peacefully together the rest of the year. Groups of Crowned Pigeons spend most of their time on the ground, only flying up into the branches of trees when startled, or when they want somewhere safe to roost overnight.

Hunting and habitat destruction have already extirpated the Victoria Crowned Pigeon from many of its traditional territories in New Guinea. And the population continues to fall. Based on current estimates, there are only 10,000 – 20,000 Victoria Crowned Pigeons left in the wild.

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Goura victoria
Australasian

Habitat

Prefers unbroken swamp and sago palm forests, sometimes drier forests, principally in lowlands

Diet

Fallen fruits and seed, especially figs

Status

Near Threatened

Breeding

Males present females with sticks, which she weaves into a nest for a single egg. Incubation lasts about 30 days. Both parents care for the chick for four weeks in the nest and another 13 weeks after it fledges.

SSP Logo
Beautiful Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus pulchellus

FUN FACT

This dove is beautiful because it is extremely colorful. It has been described as having a “red crown, whitish throat, a greenish-yellow bill and purplish-red feet…blue-grey breast and yellowish orange belly, with a reddish purple patch in between,” which is pretty much every color of the rainbow!

The Beautiful Fruit-Dove is appropriately named! This dove has gorgeous coloring, from its purplish-red crown to its green wings and orange underbelly. The Beautiful Fruit-Dove is found in New Guinea, where it lives in all levels of primary and secondary forests, from understory to canopy. They are frugivorous (fruit-eating), and forage either alone or in pairs. The Beautiful Fruit-Dove is not globally threatened, and appears to be adaptable to human-altered habitats.

Beautiful Fruit-Dove

Ptilinopus pulchellus
Australasian

Habitat

Primary and secondary forest; prefers high rainfall areas. Uses all levels of the forest from the understory to the canopy, and can also be found occasionally at the forest edge and in native gardens

Diet

Frugivorous, taking fruit from a variety of trees, shrubs, palms and vines. Can swallow fruits as big as 2 cm in diameter. Generally is very active and acrobatic when feeding.

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

The Beautiful Fruit-Dove's nest is a loose, slight platform of twigs and a few leaves, placed on lateral branches near the top of a slender understory tree, or on a palm frond or other low platform. They lay a single white egg.

SSP Logo
Shaft-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda

FUN FACT

Males and females of the species look almost identical.  A recent study found that even the birds themselves cannot tell the sex of unfamiliar members of their species until one of them sings.

The Shaft-tailed Finch, or Long-tailed Finch, is a handsome bird from northern Australia, where it is found in open woodlands, dry grassy savannas, and grassy brushland especially near water courses. Like similar finches, it feeds on ripe and half-ripe grass seeds on the ground, but during the breeding season will consume more insects off the vegetation.  Nests are constructed of grasses in trees and are bulky, rounded, with an entrance tube. The Shaft-tailed Finch is not globally threatened, although it was heavily trapped for the cage bird trade in the first part of the 20th century.

Shaft-tailed Finch

Poephila acuticauda
Australasian

Habitat

Open woodlands; dry grassy savannas with watercourses, grassy bushland

Diet

Eats ripe and half-ripe grass seeds; also adult and larval insects, especially in breeding season. Forages for seeds on the ground, but captures aerial insects by sally-striking (grabbing in a fluid movement) at vegetation.

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Made from grasses and stems and lined with feathers, plant wool, or fine grass, the nest of the Shaft-tailed Finch is bulky, rounded, and has an entrance tube. It is built in a tree several meters above ground, in bushes or vines, or sometimes in nestboxes. The clutch of 3-6 eggs is incubated for 13-14 days. Chicks fledge after 21 days and are independent about 3 weeks after that.

Owl Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii

FUN FACT

The Owl Finch, or Double-barred Finch, has a white face bordered by a thin black line; viewed head on it is somewhat heart-shaped and reminiscent of a miniature Barn Owl’s face.

The Owl Finch, or Double-barred Finch, is a handsome bird from northern and eastern Australia, where it is found in open grassy woodlands, scrublands, forest edge, and grassy vegetation along larger watercourses, as well as more anthropogenic habitats such as cane fields, roadsides, and parks and gardens. Like similar finches, the Owl Finch feeds of grasses and forbs on the ground, but will take more insects during the breeding season. The nest of this finch is a ball with a side entrance, made from grass, lined with soft grasses or feathers, and placed in a bush or small tree. Despite its popularity as a cage bird, the Owl Finch is not threatened.

Owl Finch

Taeniopygia bichenovii
Australasian

Habitat

Open grassy woodlands, scrublands, forest edge, grassy vegetation along larger watercourses, cane fields, roadsides, and parks and gardens

Diet

Seeds of grasses and forbs; occasionally insects and their larvae, mainly in breeding season. Takes seeds from ground; also will jump up to pull seed heads down. Forages singly, in pairs and in small flocks; occasionally in larger flocks of 50 or more.

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Owl Finches build a round nest with a side entrance from grass in a bush, small tree, palm, or canegrass, or sometimes in a hole in a tree or under a roof. Nests, which are lined with soft grasses or feathers, are often near paper wasp nests. A clutch of 3-6 eggs is incubated for 11-2 days. Young fledge after 19 days, and are independent 21 days after fledging.

Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus

FUN FACT

Although considered a “true parrot” (members of the Psittacoidea superfamily within the order Pisttaciformes), Lorikeets are specially adapted for a diet consisting mostly of nectar and pollen. The tip of a Lorikeet’s tongue has a collection of tiny hair-like structures called papilla that help them excavate pollen and nectar from flowers. This adaptation is why you’ll sometimes hear Lorikeets referred to as “brush-tongued parrots.”

Rainbow Lorikeets couldn’t have a more appropriate name. These small, active parrots are among the most brightly colored in the bird world – as though someone used a whole box of crayons while designing them! Lorikeets are native to Australia and eastern Indonesia, where they live in large, noisy flocks. Nectar from blooming trees such as the eucalyptus, African Tulip-tree and cheesewood is an important food source for lorikeets. As a result, lorikeets are an important pollinator for these and other trees. Lorikeets will also eat figs, apples, and sorghum, and sometimes papaya and mango fruits which have already had their tough skins opened by fruit bats. Because of this, they are sometimes considered a crop pest by farmers with orchards.

The National Aviary is home to two of the many subspecies of Rainbow Lorikeet: the Swainson’s (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus) and the Edward’s (T. haematodus capistratus). The Swainson’s Rainbow Lorikeet (native to Eastern Australia and Tasmania) is mostly green, but with a deep blue head, a yellowish collar, and a red chest. The Edward’s (native to the Lesser Sunda Islands north of Australia) is almost a faded version of the Swainson’s, with a head gently shaded by blue and a striking yellow front.  In fact, some sources argue for renaming the Edward’s Rainbow Lorikeet the Marigold Lorikeet and making it a separate species.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Trichoglossus moluccanus
Australasian
Adopt-a-Bird

A symbolic Rainbow Lorikeet adoption is a great gift, and helps us care for our flock!

Adopt Today!

Habitat

Lowland wooded country, including primary rainforest, second growth, scrubby monsoon forest, savanna, riparian woodland, mallee, coconut and other plantations, gardens and suburban areas

Diet

Nectar and pollen from flowers, as well as fruits and occasional grains

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Rainbow Lorikeets breed in the spring in Australia, laying 1-3 eggs in a tree hollow. The female alone incubates the eggs for 25 days, and both parents care for the young until they fledge at around eight weeks.

Palm Cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus

FUN FACT

Male and female Palm Cockatoos sometimes put on a spectacular drumming display at the nest-hollow, using specially prepared stick or Grevillea glauca nut as a tool. They hold this “drumstick” in their feet and beat it against the hollow tree trunk to produce a fantastic percussive display.

The Palm Cockatoo has the largest bill of any parrot (except for the Hyacinth Macaw), and it uses its powerful bill to eat very hard seeds and nuts that other species can’t access, like palm nuts. They are also among the loudest of all parrots, and communicate by whistling contact calls, stomping noisily on their perches, and drumming loudly against trees with a stick. This drumming display can be used to signify their territory to other Palm Cockatoos, but is also performed at the nest site as a courtship display! Before breeding season begins, a pair of Palm Cockatoos may construct multiple nests. Some are used exclusively for display purposes.

Palm Cockatoo

Probosciger aterrimus
Australasian

Habitat

Rainforest, gallery forest, tall secondary forest, forest edges dense savanna

Diet

Seeds, fruits, nuts (especially palm nuts), berries, and buds from a wide variety of plants

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Pairs nest in hollows high up in the trunk of dead or living trees, lining the hollow with twigs and wood chips. The female incubates a single egg for 30-35 days, and is fed by her mate while she is on the nest. The chick stays in the nest for 100 days and remains with the parents until the next breeding season.

SSP Logo
Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae

FUN FACT

The name Kookaburra comes from Wiradhuri, an Australian Aboriginal language.

You may not think you’ve heard the rollicking call of the Laughing Kookaburra, but you almost certainly have. The Kookaburra’s loud “laugh” — that echoing koo-koo-koo-koo-KA-KA-KA! in the background of every jungle movie ever made — actually comes from a squat, unassuming bird who would never be found anywhere near a jungle. In fact, the traditional home of the wild Laughing Kookaburra is the wide-open eucalyptus forests of Australia.

The Laughing Kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family. But while many kingfishers are brightly colored and famed for their dramatic dives down into the water in search of fish, the brown-and-beige Laughing Kookaburra prefers dry woodlands and city parks, not to mention a more practical sit-and-wait style of hunting. Kookaburras will eat almost any kind of meat they can get hold of — insects, small mammals, hotdogs, snakes. Once caught up in the Kookaburra’s strong beak, prey is carried up into the trees and whacked repeated against a branch to kill it and soften the insides up for easy eating.

When they’re not stealing food from picnics or beating up snakes, Kookaburras use their distinctive call as a territorial marker. Everywhere you can hear their laughter belongs to them! Unfortunately, they like nothing better than to sound off first thing in the morning. This tendency to wake people up, whether they want to or not, has earned the Laughing Kookaburra the local nickname “The Bushman’s Alarm Clock.”

Laughing Kookaburra

Dacelo novaeguineae
Australasian

Habitat

Eucalypt forest and woodland; riparian corridor along major watercourses; woodlots and cleared farmland, city parks and suburban gardens

Diet

Small mammals, large insects, lizards -- and snakes! Kookaburras are famous for eating even venomous snakes that are longer than their own bodies.

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Laughing Kookaburras breed during the summer months (which in Australia are October - November). They cooperate in the excavation of a hollow tree or arboreal termite mound where the female will lay her 2-4 eggs. Chicks hatch after about 27 days, and remain in the burrow for up to a month. When they are finally coaxed out of the nesting burrow, chicks are already able to fly and join in the raucous family chorus. Previous seasons' offspring will often stay within the family group, helping to raise the next year's brood.

SSP Logo
Javan Pond-Heron Ardeola speciosa

FUN FACT 

Javan Pond-Herons sometimes nest in very large (and very loud) colonies numbering tens of thousands of birds!

The Javan Pond-Heron is a wading bird found in Southeast Asia. Described as “stout,” this heron is sometimes mistaken for an egret with similar plumage. It inhabits swamps, marshes, and flooded plains, where it forages for crabs, insects, and fish by remaining motionless for long periods of time before snatching food from the water. This species is not globally threatened and its numbers may actually be increasing.

Javan Pond-Heron

Ardeola speciosa
Australasian Indo-Malayan

Habitat

Freshwater swamps, ponds, lakes; also rice paddies and other flooded areas; sometimes uses coastal habitats, including mangroves and reefs.

Diet

Fish, crab, and insects

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Little is known about the nesting behaviors of Javan Pond-Herons. They can be solitary, or nest in groups numbering in the thousands and sometimes including other wading bird species. The nest is a small stick nest on leafy branches situated over water. They typically lay three eggs.

Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

FUN FACT

This bird is named for its habit of following cattle and other livestock such as horses and sheep, as well as large wild mammals and even farm machinery, in order to take advantage of the insects and other prey that they kick up as they move and graze. In fact, feeding with livestock helps them get about 50% more food while expending two-thirds as much energy as they usually do.

A smaller egret, the Eastern Cattle Egret is named for its habit of stalking insects and other small prey disturbed by herds of cattle moving through and grazing in grassland habitats. Egrets will fly to a grass fire from far away in order to catch fleeing insects, and they even forage at airports, waiting at the edges of the runways for airplanes to pass and blow insects out of the grass. A worldwide phenomenon, the Eastern Cattle Egret is renowned for having colonized without human assistance three continents in just the last hundred years! This world-traveling species inhabits a wide variety of open drier, grassy habitats such as fields, pastures, and rice paddies, and so has likely benefited from agricultural disturbances. The Eastern Cattle Egret nests colonially often and is sometimes present in mixed colonies with other species of herons, cormorants, storks, and ibises.

Eastern Cattle Egret

Bubulcus ibis
Afrotropical Australasian Indo-Malayan Nearctic Neotropical Palearctic

Habitat

Wide variety of open drier, grassy habitats such as fields and pastures; also rice paddies, flooded fields, and marshes

Diet

Mainly insects, especially locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets; also spiders, frogs, tadpoles, crustaceans, mollusks, fish, lizards, snakes, small birds, and rodents. Active feeder, frequently following cattle, large mammals (e.g. buffalos, zebra, elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, larger antelopes, deer, capybaras, and camels) feeding on flushed prey; in developed areas, also will follow tractors and grass trimmers

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Eastern Cattle Egrets nest colonially (including dozens to hundreds of pairs), often with herons, storks, ibises, and cormorants. Their nests are constructed of reeds, leafy twigs, and branches in reed beds, bushes, or trees up to 20 meters off the ground. Both sexes incubate a clutch of 2-5 eggs for 21-26 days. Chicks hatch asynchronously (at different times) and fledge after 30 days.

Black Kite Milvus migrans

FUN FACT

Black Kites eat “on the wing,” catching smaller prey out of the air with their talons and bringing the food directly to their mouths without slowing down.

The Black Kite is a medium-sized, primarily brown raptor. Kites are characterized by their long wings and tails, buoyant and acrobatic flight, and ability to catch food in mid-air. Black Kites are widespread and adaptable and can be found throughout portions of Africa, Europe, and Australasia. They eat small mammals, other birds, carrion, and insects. Their most notable trait is the ability to catch and eat prey while still in flight and they have been observed catching large insects fleeing from wildfires. Unlike most raptors, Black Kites are a fairly social and gregarious species and often gather in large flocks to roost and feed.

Black Kite

Milvus migrans
Afrotropical Australasian Indo-Malayan Palearctic

Habitat

Nearly ubiquitous, occurring from semi-desert, grassland, and savanna to woodland, but avoids dense forest. Commonly found in aquatic habitats, e.g. rivers, lakes, wetlands, seashores, and nearby in meadows and along margins of wetlands. Often linked with humans and has successfully colonized large urban areas of Africa and Asia.

Diet

Small animals, insects, carrion, and human refuse

Status

Least Concern

Breeding

Black Kites often nest in loose colonies and in areas where nesting sites are at a premium, and have been observed nesting only a few feet from one another. Nests are generally built in trees, cliffs, or building ledges, and consist primarily of sticks and twigs. Black Kites typically lay 2-3 eggs which are incubated by the female for approximately 30 days. After hatching, the young birds remain in the nest for an additional 6-8 weeks, and become independent roughly 3 weeks after fledging.

In The News

See All News

National Aviary reveals genders of its newest African penguins | WTAE

The National Aviary revealed the genders of its newest African penguins on social media Tuesday. The penguins hatched in early February, and they are the offspring of penguin parents Bette and Sidney.

Read More »

National Aviary reveals genders of its newest African Penguin chicks | WPXI

Another aviary resident, Red the Scarlet Macaw, helped with the reveal, opening bird safe “candies.”

Read More »

National Aviary reveals genders of 2 new African penguin chicks | CBS News

With the help of a scarlet macaw, the National Aviary revealed the genders of its newest African penguins on Tuesday.

Read More »

3 young peregrine falcons on Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning fledge the nest | KDKA News

The three young peregrine falcons that hatched on top of Pitt's Cathedral of Learning this spring have fledged the nest.

Read More »

Sky Deck at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Today Live

Katie joined us from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh to show us a global odyssey that has turned Pittsburgh into a first-class ticket to the wildest corners of the world.

Read More »