Saving Guam Rails In 1987, only 21 Guam Rails remained after their population was nearly driven to extinction by an invasive species. The Guam Rails were rescued and brought into human care in a last ditch effort to save the species. Several of the rails made their way to a limited number of Association of…
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Guam Rails are small, flightless, and if you blink, you’ll miss them. They dart in and out of the foliage of the Tropical Rainforest at the National Aviary. But great things come in small packages, and in late 2019, Guam Rails made a huge leap forward when their IUCN status changed from “Extinct in the Wild” to “Critically Endangered.”…
Learn More The Guam Rail is a small, ground-dwelling bird, inhabiting forests, mixed woodland and scrub, fern thickets, and grasslands. They move quickly through thickets and grasses. It is most active at dawn and dusk. In the late 1980s, the presence of an invasive species, the brown tree-snake threatened the survival of bird species on the island…
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Saving Guam Kingfishers Your Support in Action! The National Aviary continues to make great strides in protecting these tiny, cinnamon-hued birds. Our very own Senior Aviculturist, Brianna Crane, will play a key role in Sihek Recovery Program efforts for 2026. She will travel to Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas to help rear potential Guam Kingfisher chicks…
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The Guam Kingfisher is small by kingfisher standards. Males average only about 58g (two ounces) and 24 cm (9 inches) long, making them less than half the size of North America’s Belted Kingfisher. Both male and female Guam Kingfishers have an iridescent blue-green back, a disproportionately very large, slightly crested, rust-colored head, and a long,…
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National Aviary to take over Shady Side Academy middle school Michael DiVittorio TribLive Fri, Feb 21, 2025 • 08:01 AM A Shady Side Academy alumnus is helping the National Aviary find a nest for its next breeding and conservation center, teaching hospital and educational space. S. Kent Rockwell, a Fox Chapel resident and 1962 academy…
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One of the ways in which zoos like the National Aviary conserve species is by working tirelessly behind-the-scenes to help ensure an increase of healthy populations for a variety of threatened bird species. Your help today can make this work possible.
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Meet Tasi, a tiny bird with a bubbly personality. Tasi is a Saipan White-eye, also known as a Bridled White-eye, a Critically Endangered species native to the Northern Mariana Islands. This species is threatened by the encroaching presence of an invasive snake–the same invasive snake species that ravaged the populations of Guam’s native birds, including…
Learn MoreBreeding Populations of Threatened Birds in Human Care The National Aviary works to establish breeding populations of threatened birds from the Mariana Islands in human care. Breeding populations in human care serves as a kind of insurance against extinction of the species as a result of problems associated with the introduction of the brown tree…
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Campamento Barrancolí: Partnering to bring environmental education to rural Dominican communities The National Aviary has partnered with local conservation organization, Grupo Acción Ecológico (Ecological Action Group; GAE) in the Dominican Republic to pursue community education projects. In 2012, based on our work with the stream-dependent Louisiana Waterthrush, GAE was the recipient of the prestigious Ford…
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Tropical Rainforest Video courtesy of Vitro Architectural Glass, the National Aviary’s bird-safe glass partner The National Aviary’s Tropical Rainforest is an indoor, walk-through habitat, where more than 30 different bird species fly freely. The oldest room in the National Aviary—originally the only room! The Tropical Rainforest underwent a total renovation and reopened in 2018. Today,…
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Little Wings, Big Future Safeguarding the Future of Threatened Species It all begins with a single pip – as a new chick uses its beak to crack the wall of the egg it once called home and takes its first breath in the outside world. What may be just a simple hatching for some represents…
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