Heated houses and a flamingo beach: Moscow Zoo opens a renovated aviary

On the City Day, the Moscow Zoo opened a renovated aviary, a large closed space for keeping birds in. The modernized enclosure is located in the same area-on the shore of the Bolshoy Presnensky Pond opposite the Red-crowned crane enclosure and the pedestrian bridge.

The total area of the space is about 600 square meters, the height is about 6 meters. There are two long boardwalks for walking along, stretching across the entire aviary. Each bridge has its own entrance and exit through gates with curtains made of light chains.

“The basic principle of the aviary remains the same: visitors can watch birds without special barriers. People cannot leave the paths, but any of the birds can come close, sit on the beams under the roof or even fly onto the paths themselves,” said Svetlana Akulova, Director General of the Moscow Zoo.

After modernization, the aviary got more animals of different species. Now semi-aquatic African birds live there: the greater flamingo, marabou, jabiru, ibis, spoonbill, hamerkop, black heron and others.

There are now four winter houses for birds that love hot weather, which is twice as many as before. They have warm water and heat. A beach area with fine white sand was arranged for greater flamingos to make it easier for them to move along the shore of the pond.

The aviary vegetation has also become much more diverse. Now the aviary has an orchard that does not require special care and is beautiful at any time of the year. The apple, cherry, pear, eastern hemlock, mountain pine and spruce grow there. The waterfront has been decorated with willows. The zoo has paid much attention to shrubs (dogwood, spirea and others) and perennial plants (buckthorn, molinia, yarrow, hyssop and others). In addition, gardeners have planted grass: Chinese silver grass, reed canary grass, carex muskingumensis and others.

The zoo has special staff and video surveillance to ensure the safety of visitors and birds.