Birds that we could easily have without an aviary
- Thread starter Orque41
- Start date
One bird that has cropped up quite a lot in discussions of aviary birds are the turacos but they are quite interesting in that, although they would need an aviary to feel realistic, I don't think they would need full flight in the way that, say, a parrot or bird of prey might. This is a direct quote from the turaco best practice guidelines by the EAZA:
"Turaco are not built for flying distances or sustained flight, their flight appears weak and quite arduous. They are much more at home running along tree branches and hopping through vegetation, they are equipped with semi-zygodactylous toes, giving them impeccable arboreal locomotion."
I wonder that, if they come to the game at all, they would almost be better off being animated like a more standard arboreal animal. They would hop and run about when on the ground but would spend a lot of time running around on climbing frames, with a glide or a clumsy flapping flight replacing the jumps.
"Turaco are not built for flying distances or sustained flight, their flight appears weak and quite arduous. They are much more at home running along tree branches and hopping through vegetation, they are equipped with semi-zygodactylous toes, giving them impeccable arboreal locomotion."
I wonder that, if they come to the game at all, they would almost be better off being animated like a more standard arboreal animal. They would hop and run about when on the ground but would spend a lot of time running around on climbing frames, with a glide or a clumsy flapping flight replacing the jumps.
Yeah i don't understand why we have so few birds in the game. Like you said there are lot of types of birds that while yes they do fly they are no really kept in aviaries in zoos and they could've included in the packs.
As for the birds of this kind that i would like them to add in DLCs i would say:
1. Waterfowls: ducks, geese and swans
Mandarin duck - wood duck - mute swan - black necked swan - canadian goose
2. Cranes and storks
Marabou stork - damoiselle crane - sarus crane - grey crowned crane - red crowned crane - saddle billed stork - jabiru
3. Ibises and spoonbills
scarlet ibis - african sacred ibis - bald ibis - crested ibis - african spoonbill - roseate spoonbill
4. Ratites (a lot of big ones missing here)
Emu - Rhea - Kiwi
5. Galliformes (another group that really lacks representation, we only got the peafowl)
turkey - pheaseants - tragopans - Capercaillie - quails - jungle fowls
Other birds we could already have in the game: shoebill, secretary bird, bustards, ground hornbills, curassows.
As for the birds of this kind that i would like them to add in DLCs i would say:
1. Waterfowls: ducks, geese and swans
Mandarin duck - wood duck - mute swan - black necked swan - canadian goose
2. Cranes and storks
Marabou stork - damoiselle crane - sarus crane - grey crowned crane - red crowned crane - saddle billed stork - jabiru
3. Ibises and spoonbills
scarlet ibis - african sacred ibis - bald ibis - crested ibis - african spoonbill - roseate spoonbill
4. Ratites (a lot of big ones missing here)
Emu - Rhea - Kiwi
5. Galliformes (another group that really lacks representation, we only got the peafowl)
turkey - pheaseants - tragopans - Capercaillie - quails - jungle fowls
Other birds we could already have in the game: shoebill, secretary bird, bustards, ground hornbills, curassows.
Agreed with every part of this assessment
God I need the secretary bird. It’s so beautiful and unique. I miss it from the ZT2 days
I'd like:
- Greater roadrunner - beep beep. I've seen these in the wild and they frequently cross the road. Never seen a coyote chase them, though, but I noticed some Acme boxes one time. Peculiar
- Wild turkey - I'd love to hear those sounds in-game. Just, relisten to their sounds. Wouldn't that be so fun? And perfect for a NA zoo, too
- Greater rhea - I've said it before and I'll say it again: another SA animal, a SA bird, can live with Baird's tapirs and giant anteaters and (when we get them) capybaras. Houston Zoo has all 4 of these in 1 enclosure, plus 2 more birds (don't remember their name, but those'll do good, too)
- Geese and swans and ducks - I love waterfowl, their waddles and honks and the colors. Any would do good, but we have to have a mallard, just because it's so common
at this point i'd settle for the ambient birds from planet coaster lol
Decided just to check what these were - Southern screamers and Coscoroba swans - again, both would be great in the game.
I would say South America has a lot of untapped potential for primarily ground-dwelling birds. As well as the screamer and swans (I would probably choose the black-necked swan over the Coscoroba personally, as they are a true swan), you could also have species like:
- Elegant crested tinamou (would add a much-needed species from the cooler southern grasslands of South America)
- Sunbittern, grey-winged trumpeter, giant wood-rail and a curassow species (all tropical forest species that are common in walkthrough and mixed-species rainforest exhibits)
- There are a good number of freshwater wading birds that would be suitable (maguari stork, boat-billed heron and scarlet ibis)
Because South America has so many birds (I believe they are the continent with the most bird species), they really do need a few ground birds added at least.
Also Scarlet Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Marabou Stork, Red Crowned Crane ....any of the long-legged, mostly wading birds, that spend quite a lot of time on land. Sure they can fly, and if the game adds flying mechanics I'd absolutely want them to have it. But these are all birds that I could see being realistic even without flying mechanics.
my personal list of birds i want that dont need aviaries
- shoebill
- kori bustard
- secretary bird
- maribou stork
- saddle billed stork
- white stork
- jabiru stork
- red crowned crane
- kiwi
- emu
- elegant crested tinamau
- greater rhea
- black swan
- orinoco goose
- white faced whistling duck
- wood duck
- golden pheasant
- lyrebird
- burrowing owl
- hooded merganser
- north american ruddy duck
- adelie penguin
- rockhopper penguin
- chinstrap penguin
- little blue penguin
- emperor penguin
- nene
- victoria crowned pigeon
- northern janaca
- wild turkey
- ocellated turkey
- green peafowl
- congo peafowl
- ring necked pheasant
- american flamingo
- chilian flamingo
- james's flamingo
- lesser flamingo
- siberian crane
- white naped crane
- roseate spoonbill
- royal spoonbill
- eurasian spoonbill
- scarlet ibis
- white ibis
- southern ground hornbill
- megalanic penguin
- gentoo penguin
- dalmation pelican
- white pelican
- brown pelican
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In addition to the ones already noted - Demoiselle cranes and kagu.