Birds for one and only Avian DLC

jcp011c

jcp011c
I am hoping we get an avian DLC by year end of 2021, but I worry that for all of the bird species out there, it would be hard to pick what 5 species you'd most want in the game. What would you want to see? Also, perhaps there would be another couple of birds mixed in with other packs released after the avian pack - perhaps 2 more Avian species that could be included in those packs. Feel free to list a few others that you feel would be really nice to have but if at all possible try to keep it to a dozen or less, not a list of a hundred birds.

It's hard to choose but this is what i'd most want to see

Avian Pack:

Bald Eagle
Toco Toucan
Hyacinth Macaw
Australian Pelican
Kiwi (Exhibit)

species mixed in with other DLC as these are mostly wading birds:
Marabou Stork
Scarlet Ibis

To finish out a dozen species it would great if we also got these species, but they're a lower priority for me:

Great Hornbill or Rhinoceros Hornbill i.e., some species of Hornbill.
Harpy Eagle
Scarlet Macaw
Showbill Stork
Secretary Bird
 

Muenster

M
1. Bald Eagle or Golden Eagle
2. Griffon Vulture
3. Barn Owl / Eurasian Eagle Owl or Snowy Owl

Every Zoo I visited as child had vultures, owls and eagles.

Exotic personal favourites would be:

4. Harpyie Eagle or Bearded Vulture

A kookaburra would indeed be nice. Still can remember some funny noises he made when I saw him the first time in a zoo.
 
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DarthQuell

DarthQuell
Here are top 5:

1. Kookaburra - awesome
2. Lyrebird - listen to Attenborough's video about them and you'll see why
3. Barn Owl - I love their look
4. Whooping Crane - a crane from Texas. Endangered, and at the Houston Zoo
5. Scarlet Macaw - my favorite macaw

Here are second 5:

1. Rainbow Lorikeets - amazing parakeets
2. Monk Parrots - I know they can be pets, but pet owners don't really know much info about them, right?
3. African Grey Parrot - same as above
4. Toco Toucan - I like toucans
5. Great Blue Heron - herons are interesting
 

12344321

1
This is obviously a total pipe dream and I would be genuinely shocked if a bird dlc included more than 5 bird species...(but I would 100 percent give Frontier all my money if they gave us these birds). That being said a lot of great birds did not make the cut.

"Flightless Birds"
  • Great Blue Heron (North America)
  • Wild Turkey (North America)
  • Greater Roadrunner (North America)
  • Greater Rhea (South America)
  • Humboldt Penguin (South America)
  • African Grey Crowned Crane (Africa)
  • Marabou Stork (Africa)
  • Secretary Bird (Africa)
  • Western Capercaille (Eurasia)
  • White Stork (Eurasia)
  • Golden Pheasant (Asia)
  • Japanese Crane (Asia)
  • Emu (Oceania)
  • Kiwi (Oceania)
  • Lyrebird (Oceania)

These predominantly ground dwelling species could reuse the flamingo, peafowl, king penguin, or ostrich animations.

"Flying Birds"
  • Scarlet Ibis (North America/South America) - Bald Eagle (North America)
  • Snow Owl (North America)
  • Wood Duck (North America)
  • Trumpeter Swan (North America)
  • Atlantic Puffin (North America/Europe)
  • Macaw species (South America)
  • Toco Toucan (South America)
  • Andean Condor (South America)
  • Harpy Eagle (South America)
  • White-backed Vulture (Africa)
  • Golden Eagle (Eurasia)
  • Eurasian Eagle Owl (Eurasia)
  • Mandarin Duck (Asia)
  • Dalmatian Pelican (Asia)
  • Black Swan (Oceania)
  • Kookaburra (Oceania)
  • Cockatoo species (Oceania)
  • Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Oceania)
  • Kookaburra (Oceania)

Even though they are obviously not birds I strongly think Flying Foxes (Asia/Oceania) (or any bat species really) belong in this sim
 
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Roxxsmom

Roxxsmom
Larger birds


Bald eagle (or some other kind of eagle)
California condor (or Andean Condor as part of another South America pack)
King Vulture
Malagasy Sacred Ibis, or perhaps a stork or heron species
Hornbill
Toco Toucan

If they ever decide to create smaller bird aviary type exhibits, similar to the current small animal exhibits, but maybe with a bit more room for them to stretch their wings

Parrot species such as hyacinth or scarlet macaw, greater sulfur crested cockatoo or even African Greys or Amazons
or the Rock (love those little guys)
Bird of Paradise
Satin Bower Bird
Kiwis!
Atlantic Puffin, or Tufted Puffin
Rainbow Lorikeets (these are popular in free flight aviaries, and zoos often let guests pay to feed them nectar (guests are carefully supervised by zoo educators or keepers, of course)
 

12344321

1
jcp011c said:
I am hoping we get an avian DLC by year end of 2021, but I worry that for all of the bird species out there, it would be hard to pick what 5 species you'd most want in the game. What would you want to see? Also, perhaps there would be another couple of birds mixed in with other packs released after the avian pack - perhaps 2 more Avian species that could be included in those packs. Feel free to list a few others that you feel would be really nice to have but if at all possible try to keep it to a dozen or less, not a list of a hundred birds.

It's hard to choose but this is what i'd most want to see

Avian Pack:

Bald Eagle
Toco Toucan
Hyacinth Macaw
Australian Pelican
Kiwi (Exhibit)

species mixed in with other DLC as these are mostly wading birds:
Marabou Stork
Scarlet Ibis

To finish out a dozen species it would great if we also got these species, but they're a lower priority for me:

Great Hornbill or Rhinoceros Hornbill i.e., some species of Hornbill.
Harpy Eagle
Scarlet Macaw
Showbill Stork
Secretary Bird
Click to expand...

It cannot be 5 animals in the aviary dlc...if frontier has even a shred of awareness they wont make such a big and stupid mistake. If they only give us 5 flying birds this game is about to take a MASSIVE backseat to prehistoric kingdom and other zoo sims (who actually listen to the vocal community) and implement flying mechanics.
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
If there was a single pack for flying birds, one thing I think is important is that the birds in question don't look weird spending lots of time on the ground. With that in mind, I have chosen four habitat birds that spend most or some of their time on the ground but still need to be kept in an aviary setting:

1. Hyacinth macaw - South America (Vulnerable); these should also be able to climb on frames and are a species that routinely feeds on the ground
2. Northern gannet - Europe, North America (Least Concern); these would obviously also be able to use the diving ability
3. Ruppell's griffon vulture - Africa (Critically Endangered)
4. Scarlet ibis - South America (Least Concern)

1612123104075.png


Exhibit birds are a bit more difficult; however, there are some species that will quite naturally spend long periods immobile on a perch and could potentially work - these birds include the South American motmots and most large kingfishers. My choice would be:

5. Guam kingfisher - Oceania (Extinct in the Wild)

1612122890473.png


As for birds that could go in other packs - there are too many to choose from! Africa alone could offer up the secretary bird, grey crowned crane, Southern ground hornbill, marabou or saddle-billed storks and guineafowl just to start with. I think a couple of my top choices would be:

6. Dalmatian pelican - Asia, Europe (Near Threatened)
7. Ocellated turkey - Central America (Near Threatened)

I would hope that once the groundwork had been laid in an initial pack, there could be a second animal-only pack that includes more bird species - there are plenty of smaller species that spend a lot of time on the ground including waders (such as avocets, lapwings and jacanas), caracaras, various species of rail, bowerbirds, pittas, bleeding-heart doves, burrowing owls, Patagonian conures and smaller gamebirds (such as partridges and quails). This would also be the situation I could see flying foxes being added - they are certainly large enough and some species are kept in large, outdoor aviaries.
 

HunterIsCookie

HunterIsCookie
I've been thinking about this recently, so I thought that I could share my ideas for an Aviary Pack for once. Personally, I don't see the need for an exhibit animal unless they heavily change the system or make a new one so I'm going to add a fifth "clone" animal to the roster.

1. Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) - The largest bird-of-prey, and has decent captive representation all over the world.
2. Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) - Very popular in captivity due to their striking plumage, this species is probably the most well known macaw species (although it's not the only one on the list)
3. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - Not my favourite eagle species, but it's not about favourites. The Bald Eagle is probably one of the most iconic birds in general, plus we could use some more North American animals.
4. Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) - Hornbills are pretty popular on the forums from what I've seen, but they not in the public eye all too much so this could work as a out of left field choice (think the Dall Sheep from the Arctic Pack, or Dwarf Caiman from the Aquatic Pack), and perhaps an unexpected favourite? I chose this species in particular as it's one the larger size, and emphasizes the main feature of hornbills, their casque (which is also very colourful on this species).
5. Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) - And now we get to our clone animal. I honestly feel like macaws are one of the only animals that can get away with having 2 similar species in one pack. I chose this one as many zoos have mixed macaw exhibits that usually have this one and at least one other species (like the Scarlet Macaw from earlier), so I thought it'd be nice to have two species that can get a bonus from being together.

Honourable Mentions (Obviously, there were a lot of animals that I excluded for many a reason):
1. Toucans - Probably would've added one if we could have more species, but I already included 3 South American birds and the hornbill had sort of taken the long-beaked frugivore niche in the pack. I probably would've chosen either the Toco or Keel-Billed species due to how recognisable both are.
2. Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) - Excluded primarily due to the Bald Eagle and Andean Condor taking away the two main things going for this species.
3. Ruppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) - Andean Condor was just too important in my opinion.
4. Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) - The Rhinoceros Hornbill just felt like a better choice.
5. Cockatoos - Oceania has many species that would've been interesting, but I found the idea of a mixed macaw exhibit too tempting. Notable species are the Sulphur-Crested, Palm, and Galah.
6. Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) - The largest macaw and longest parrot species. I just felt the other two chosen were to iconic to not include.
7. Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) - Mainly notable due to being extinct in the wild. Other than that, not too interesting.
8. Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) - Seems to have been brought up a couple times on the forums, and could be interesting due to their calls. Other than that, not too important in my eyes.
 

DarthQuell

DarthQuell
Nice list. There a way too many birds to ever include all the ones we want, but your list is good.

I would personally switch the Bald Eagle for another raptor or make Bald Eagle adoption special. Why? Well, it turns out that it's illegal to have a Bald Eagle in captivity (well, any raptor, but this species especially). The only way a zoo can acquire one is if they rescue it, but even then its enclosure must be open for it to fly away, if it can. That's what the Bald Eagle keepers told us when we went to see it, but because her wing is broken she can't fly away
 

markun

markun
darthquell said:
Nice list. There a way too many birds to ever include all the ones we want, but your list is good.

I would personally switch the Bald Eagle for another raptor or make Bald Eagle adoption special. Why? Well, it turns out that it's illegal to have a Bald Eagle in captivity (well, any raptor, but this species especially). The only way a zoo can acquire one is if they rescue it, but even then its enclosure must be open for it to fly away, if it can. That's what the Bald Eagle keepers told us when we went to see it, but because her wing is broken she can't fly away
Click to expand...

There are specific restrictions on keeping bald eagles in captivity in the United States but they don't apply to the rest of the world. For example there are more than 150 zoos in Europe that keep them and they aren't rescue animals.
 

KatrineB

KatrineB
jcp011c said:
it would be hard to pick what 5 species you'd most want in the game
Click to expand...
I truly feel this struggle, in trying to come up with an answer to your question!

This is why, I've decided to only include small bird species "commonly" found in my home region (which would potentially be added to an aviary/exhibit) on the list.

Disclaimer: I will most likely change my mind, at least a dozen times - but I will let the list be as it is :)

  • Eurasian kingfisher
  • Eurasian bullfinch
  • Goldcrest
  • Northern long-tailed
  • Eurasian blackbird

Eurasian kingfisher.jpg
Eurasian bullfinch.jpg
Goldcrest.jpg
Northern long-tailed .jpg
Eurasian blackbird.jpg
 
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jcp011c

jcp011c
Great idea! I'd absolutely love to have smaller exhibit type birds. A new type of exhibit display , where it looks like netting at the top (or open air even). This would be for smaller birds only, of course. Birds the size of owls may be the maximum size I'd be okay with - toucans and macaws definitely not.
 

JanH25R

JanH25R
darthquell said:
Leuke lijst. Er zijn veel te veel vogels om ooit alle vogels op te nemen die we willen, maar je lijst is goed.

Ik zou persoonlijk de Bald Eagle ruilen voor een andere roofvogel of de adoptie van Bald Eagle speciaal maken. Waarom? Nou, het blijkt dat het illegaal is om een Amerikaanse zeearend in gevangenschap te hebben (nou ja, elke roofvogel, maar vooral deze soort). De enige manier waarop een dierentuin er een kan bemachtigen, is door hem te redden, maar zelfs dan moet de omheining openstaan om weg te vliegen, als dat kan. Dat is wat de Bald Eagle-keepers ons vertelden toen we het gingen bekijken, maar omdat haar vleugel gebroken is, kan ze niet wegvliegen.
Click to expand...
for real!? I did not know that. Nice to know. But I don't think they will take that into account at Planet Zoo. I think Planet Zoo was made in the UK (correct me if I'm not correct) So they might not even know that rule.
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
JanH25R said:
for real!? I did not know that. Nice to know. But I don't think they will take that into account at Planet Zoo. I think Planet Zoo was made in the UK (correct me if I'm not correct) So they might not even know that rule.
Click to expand...
I did not know that fact either (and I'm in America!) I may be biased being so, but I thought it was too iconic of a bird to leave out. Given that fact though I can see them not including it - it would not be realistic then to have non-injured bald eagles in a zoo game. If that's the case I replace the Bald Eagle from my original post to a Marabou Stork, and replace the Marabou Stork from the DLC add ins with a Rhinoceros hornbill.
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
markun said:
Except that just applies to America. The rest of the world has bald eagles in zoos.
Click to expand...
Oh, I was not aware of that. Ha, I know much less about my country's national bird than I should. Okay then, it's definitely high profile enough it should be a lock for a pack.
 
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