17 September 2016 / leggypeggy

Brazil’s impressive bird park near Iguazu

birds, Iguazu, sanctuary, waterfalls, wildlife, wildlife parks, zoos

You looking at me? Not sure of the species but love the colours

I have mixed emotions about zoos and other wildlife parks. How are the animals cared for? Does the facility operate ethically? Does it have a mission beyond tourism and income?

I’m also a huge sucker for birds, so was keen to visit the Parque das Aves (or Bird Park) on the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls.

What an amazing and honourable bird sanctuary it is, and in such a beautiful setting.

Group of flamingoes

Flapping flamingo

Flamingoes feeding

I was gobsmacked by the number and variety of birds—there are more than 900 birds from 150 different species. I was also impressed by how the birds are housed. Most are in large aviaries, which allows the ‘residents’ to strut and fly about. There are water features and plenty of trees, too, for perches.

In addition to the magnificent birds, we also saw several species of snakes, lizards, caimans and butterflies.

A tree full of scarlet ibises

The sanctuary is privately owned and spreads over 40 acres of forest. It opened in 1994 and plays a conservation role as well.

In addition to all the visual evidence, I was impressed by park’s statement regarding its philosophy and approach. Here it is.

‘Parque das Aves is a conservation project in the Atlantic Rainforest near Foz do Iguassu, Brazil. We take in birds, which have been rescued from animal trafficking or are for some reason no longer able to survive in the wild. We give them a home in their beautiful native rainforest.

‘We love huge aviaries. We think birds should be able to fly, and have a great social life, and feed on the best, fresh, organic diet possible.

Red bird

Toucan

‘We then breed a new generation of birds, which are capable of being released back into the wild (and we have a number of projects that do exactly that.) We also support projects and research throughout Brazil. We plant thousands of trees a year, restoring degraded Atlantic Rainforest.

‘The Parque das Aves thinks that education is one of our most important tasks. Sometimes it’s as simple as giving people direct contact with these beautiful birds. It’s amazing what that can do. We also educate thousands of local schoolchildren a year in special programs. Thank you for supporting Parque das Aves. We couldn’t do it without you.’

Southern screamers

I’m not alone in my admiration for Parque das Aves. Reviews on TripAdvisor are highly complimentary. The sanctuary has almost 17,000 reviews in numerous languages. A remarkable 96 per cent of the reviews written in English rank the park as very good or excellent. Several reviews point out that the park is wheelchair friendly.

I have to confess that I don’t remember all the bird species, but here’s a collection of birds with a lot of black in their colouring.