Parque des Aves
Kingdom of Birds in the Jungle

Parque des Aves - take the trip to the walk-in aviaries in the Foz de Iguacu rain-forest Tropicana Bird Park.

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Birds in the Parque des Aves 
       It seems that the main idea behind the birds’ park was to protect both – beautiful and sometimes rare and endangered rainforest bird species as well as the rain-forest itself.

And frankly it will be difficult to find better location for the birds’ park than “next to” the Iguazu Falls.

By opening here the Parque des Aves the owners of the park caught three birds at the same time!

On top of protecting birds and jungle, by taking advantage of large crowds of tourists visiting the Iguacu Falls, Mr. & Mrs Dennis and Anna Croukamp greatly raised public awareness to the idea of protection and conservation of the nature.
Chapeau!

Please keep in mind my dear visitors that:

  Nature does not need us, but we need nature.

(to see the full story go back to the previous page by clicking the link on the bottom of this page).

You will find flamingos in almost every birds' or Zoo park. Here there are African and Chilean species (Flamingo-africano y Flamingo-chileno).

For me it is always surprising how a flamingo can keep equilibrium standing asleep on one so tall and slim, skinny leg ?

Grey-crowned cranes (Grou-coroado)

Enjoying freedom of the rain-forest with the comfort the park are Demoiselle crane (Grou-demoiselle) and Indian Peafowl (Pavao-Azul)

    OK, after following the trail we arrive into the first and probably the best one in the Parque des Aves walk-in aviary called Forest Aviary. The name tells you everything, so let's focus on the birds.

Dusky-legged Guan (Jacuguacu)

     Dusky-legged Guan habitat includes narrow ranges of subtropical lowland rain-forests in southernmost part of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina. It weights about 1.2 kg (2.5 lbs), feeds on fruits, flowers and buds.

Bare-faced Curassow (Mutum-de-Penacho)

      It is strange how little can be found about curassows on the Internet. Almost every site repeats the same story from the Wikipedia.
Just for your knowledge - this is a South American bird with habitat limited to rain-forests covering area of 4-states corner (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina).
To me the most amazing is their strangely-beautiful crown and tail's feathers (see full size pictures).

    Few years ago I had a chance to visit an aviary in the Loro Park (Tenerife – Canary Islands). I’m not sure – may be because it was the first aviary I ever saw, but I’m still under impression that it was much bigger than anything I saw in Foz de Iguazu birds’ park.

However certainly that walk-in aviary was very thoughtfully planed and arranged. First of all it was designed for mostly small birds giving them real freedom to fly within its limits.

But from the visitor’s perspective the best gift was a long, suspended canopy trail. It offered an opportunity to watch birds from up there in the environment of treetops where most of those birds belong to.

From all four aviaries in the Foz de Iguacu birds’ park the Forest Aviary is the closest to that description. And undoubtedly in this one, visitors will greatly benefit from the canopy trail.

Forest Aviary (notes from the park information board)

     This aviary represents the seasonal semi-deciduous Forest, which covers the majority of the National Park. It is a dense, humid rain-forest with a huge biodiversity.
Several birds’s species prefer to use different levels of the forest: In the lower level we find curassows and tinamous looking for fruits and insects.
In the intermediate level we may see jays and thrushes. In the higher levels of the forest conures and toucans occupy canopy of the trees.

The remaining aviaries in the Parque des Aves – Pantanal Aviary and Large Parrots Aviary contain mostly big birds- red ibises, parrots and macaws that either live mostly on the ground or in lower parts of the rain-forest. In this case the need for canopy trail may not be so obvious.

To make it clear - there are no canopy trails for birds watchers in parks’ aviaries. I’m convinced that a treetop trail and observation platforms will be very beneficial for the Forest Aviary because specifically that one has a rich treetops life, invisible for visitors walking on the ground.

But please do not take me wrong – walk-in aviaries are a great step ahead bringing us, birds and in general a nature much closer together.

And that is the objective of the Free Parque des Aves Pictures site – raise our awareness to the idea of protection and conservation of the nature. And the first step in that direction is to bring us, birds and nature together.

So let's follow this suggestion:

“Throw your heart and the body will follow………” (A. Carnegie – “How to Make Friends….”)

To re-start the tour of the Parque des Aves (Birds' Park) in Foz de Iguacu click:
Parque das Aves Pictures - Map, Info and Facts - previous (page 1)

However:
If you wish to follow the birds trail in the Parque des Aves and see toucans, then either click on the toucan's picture on the left or select the following link: Toucans - next (page 3)

If you enjoyed this visit, then please share your experience with friends :-)

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