Random Rambler: Tracy Aviary

Tracy Aviary is a neat zoo obviously specializing in birds located in Salt Lake City. It features tons of local birds, some not so local birds, and even some exotic species. There is also a nice pond and streams. Tracy aviary is the largest and oldest of only 2 freestanding aviaries in the United States. As much of a big bird nerd I have become I am kind of surprised we haven’t been here yet. The majority of the exhibits are outdoor, so be sure to dress appropriately.

Quick Details:

Length: Doing the main loop once, and dipping into the side paths and connecting paths trying to see everything we ended up doing 2.15 miles.
Trail Type: Loop with sub loops and cross trails.
Difficulty: It is paved DR2
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: Yes, flush toilets in the front and back end of the zoo.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: Fee area. Adult tickets are $12.95. They are open 9-5 allowing last admission at 4.

To Get Here:

Take i80 to the 7th east exit, head north to 900 s. Turn Left. Turn left at the first light at 6th east. The road around Liberty Park is one way, follow the loop to near the end you will see large signs for the aviary located at the far southwest corner of Liberty Park.

The Trail:

The main building is quite nice.

After paying out admission fee’s we came outside and found this map, which was a little daunting at first, but I figured we would do the outside loop, and then work our way through the inner stuff as needed. Didn’t quite work out completely that way, but it was a good start. Pro Tip: the gift shop has little pamphlets next to the door leading out, just not in a very conspicuous place. We found them on the way out. o.O

The Pelican Pond.

With some ducks.

I can’t find anything to confirm or deny this, but I suspect the little streams and ponds are likely fed by Red Butte Creek as that is what feeds the nearby Liberty Park Pond. I might be wrong, maybe there are 2 natural springs?

Turkey vulture. I see these guys soaring around our foothills fairly often in the spring. I have only seen them on the ground fairly closely twice, and only once with my camera handy. So it’s kind of cool to see a little closer.

Not the best shot of the Red-tail hawk. Another local I see fairly often.

Snow covered archways.

Treasures of the Rainforest one of 3 indoor exhibits.

No idea what this one is but it’s pretty.

One of the birds that is out in the open area. Not sure what it is but looks similar to doves and pidgins.

Well, I should just accept that I have no idea what any of the birds are in this exhibit. But, they are pretty.

Couple smaller pretty guys.

Neat little tropical room.

Something white.

More rainforest.

The Teaching Stream.

Chase Mill

Which has a little amphitheater built next to it.

Some of the Lightwalk decorations. That sounded neat, but not 20 bucks neat.

The Swan Pond. It seems the 2 ponds are connected by a narrow area, but they are still considered separate ponds. Ah correction, 3 ponds. The narrow area is also separately named pond.

The Chase Mill again. It is the oldest industrial building still standing in Utah built in 1852. It now stands as an event venue, and is now on our list for a possible wedding venue.

Eventually we made our way to the Owl Forest exhibit. Here is a barred owl, which do not appear to be native.

A peahen.

Barn owls. I have seen these guys locally as well.

The peahen again.

Not the best shot of a burrowing owl. I found my first burrowing owls in the wild just this year.

I forget which owl this is.

Another terrible shot, but a great horned owl. Again a fun one I have seen locally.

Ugh, another shot that didn’t turn out, but an Eastern screech owl. I am pretty sure I have heard it’s cousin the western screech owl, but have yet to get a shot of one.

Next we hit the Kennecott Wetland Experience.

Where we found some white faced ibis’ and black necked stilts. Some of the ibis could be curlews.

I think this is the Caspian tern.

Another white faced ibis. We seen these a few places.

White faced ibis’ and black necked stilts..

Black crowned night heron. I think we spotted these in Ogden once but I was not quick enough with the camera.

This one I am more confident in being a long billed curlew. I’ve only seen one of these in the wild that I am aware of.

Another night heron. We ended up spotting 3 total.

Squirrel!

Lorikeets. These guys seem to colorful to be out in the snow, but I don’t know anything about them really.

King vulture.

Fun tunnel. I bet this looks cool lit up.

The Sycamore Stream.

The king vulture again.

We didn’t see any macaws that should have been here as well. They must have moved them inside.

We worked our way over to the South American Pavilion.

A troupial.

Scarlet ibis’. They are quite stunning!

Guira cuckoo.

Toucans.

I forget what these guys are, but they are kind of neat.

After a quick pit stop in the restrooms we noticed the king vulture being active.

Destination Argentina was devoid of birds at the moment. I suspect they have been moved indoors. Darn, I wanted to see the flamingos! However I am glad they are not suffering in the cold for the entertainment of humans.

Sandhill cranes.

Another bird we get locally, but it is really neat to be able to see them up close.

Southern Ground Hornbill. Another neat looking bird.

Apparently they like cardboard and making a mess.

I was pretty proud of myself for correctly identifying a species that is found nowhere near us, a Kookaburra.

However they are pretty distinctive.

Expedition Kea.

Landis and I agreed that the kea’s were our favorite. They had so much personality.

According to the sign, the kea is known for it’s intelligence and curiosity. It’s playful and mischievous antics have earned it the nickname “clown of the mountains”.

This one liked to follow me around and when I would stop he would stop in front of me and wiggle his tongue at me LOL he’s super cute!

Hi buddy!

We found a maze. Looks like this is part of their Lightwalk display.

I was a little disappointed with Eagle Ridge as you couldn’t really see the birds. I later learned this is the back side and we’ll see them better shortly.

The Bird Feeder Café had a sign out advertising hot chocolate and well, it worked on me so we stopped by where I changed my mind and got a mocha instead.

The Pelican Pond.

Squirrel!

We then went to King of the Andes, but Andy the Andean Condor was nowhere to be found. I settled for this sign that shows the wingspan of Andean condor (green) vs. California condor (blue) vs Turkey Vultures, King Vultures (red), and smaller vultures in yellow.

The Pelican Pond again.

Fun interactive piece. You turn a crank and the the wings flap.

In the Dabbling Duck Pond we found some pelicans, and of course, some cormorants. Because this has been the year of cormorant sightings,

One of each spreading their wings.

I know cormorants do this to dry out. I imagine the same might be true for pelicans.

There is a trail on the side that offers a better view. These look like the pelicans we have here, American White Pelicans.

But these guys look different, ah yes, these are Dalmatian pelicans.

Airing out again.

Little squabble between this cormorant and the pelicans.

Bold move on the part of the cormorant. I have seen pelicans fit fairly large creatures in their mouths.

The pelican pond again.

Slightly better view of the golden eagles. We couldn’t see the bald eagle.

We wandered into the middle again to make sure we hadn’t missed anything.

Peregrine falcon. Seemed smaller than I imagined. We have these here too but I haven’t had a confirmed sighting yet.

The light tunnel again.

Oh, we found the swans in the Swan Pond.

The Sycamore Stream again.

A building from 1938, one of the first constructed when the ground were officially the Tracy Aviary. It was originally an aquarium, but the fish didn’t survive the winter so it held a couple other hats before being deemed not designed to any building standards and vulnerable to snow loads in 2016. It was also estimated to be over $600,000 to restore it. It has been designated as significant but neither Tracy Aviary or Salt Lake City have any plans to fund the restoration.

Inside.

Another interactive sculpture.

Wow, the aviary was quite a bit bigger than I imagined. With loads and loads of birds to learn about. I am glad we finally came to check it out. Except now I want to come back during the warmer months. However, with the cold weather, there were not a lot of other visitors today so we had most exhibits to ourselves, which was a nice treat. 9 out 10 squirrels today.