Where: Washington, D.C.
When: year-round
If you like: conservation
Why you should go: Compared with the return of giant pandas to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo last fall, the redesign of the park’s Bird House captured few headlines. But the latter attraction, originally built in 1928 and reopened in 2023 after a six-year closure, is far more embedded in the DNA of the property—and the continent on which it resides—than those (adorable) Chinese superstars. “We wanted to tell the story of our own migratory birds here in North America,” says Sara Hallager, curator of birds at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, about the trio of enclosure-free aviaries inside the new facility. In the Prairie Pothole area, guests meander among swimming, waddling, and diving waterfowl, including ruddy ducks and buffleheads (“a little duck with a big personality”). An aviary designed to look like a coffee farm hosts some sixty migratory neotropical songbirds, among them magnolia warblers, Baltimore orioles, and yellow-breasted chats. Meanwhile, native shorebirds like sanderlings and red knots populate the Delaware Bay exhibit, and whooping cranes, ibises, and spoonbills occupy outdoor wetlands. That’s not to say you won’t see any farther-flung species in the Bird House; look out for tiled parrots and toucans on the mosaic archway in the lobby, a relic from the original building.
G&G tip: Springtime, when the birds enter their breeding season, is an especially exciting time to visit. “The ruddy ducks have bright blue bills and the males do this crazy courtship display where they puff out their chests and make a thumping sound,” Hallager says. Over at the coffee farm, indigo buntings turn a vibrant blue and the warblers brighten up, too, and soon after, visitors can see the songbirds raise chicks.
