At the moment, the only announced birds in Planet Zoo are the common ostrich and Indian peafowl - I have seen mention elsewhere of two other species (namely an unidentified flamingo and the Southern cassowary - not sure on the validity of the latter).
There are lots of additional birds that could be included without needing to add aviaries, which I really doubt will come with the base game. I have included below a list of birds that are mostly or entirely terrestrial; they have also all been kept in captivity to some extent.
Ratites
Waterfowl
Landfowl
Other waterbirds
Predatory birds
Other ground birds
I have tried to ensure that only birds above a certain weight (around 2kg) are included - if there was the option to go smaller then there are many other available species such as other flightless rails, pheasants, partridges, quail, junglefowl and prairie chickens, guineafowl, roadrunners and a larger variety of ducks.
A couple of birds I didn't consider:
There are lots of additional birds that could be included without needing to add aviaries, which I really doubt will come with the base game. I have included below a list of birds that are mostly or entirely terrestrial; they have also all been kept in captivity to some extent.
Ratites
- Cassowaries (any of the three species would do, although the Southern is the only truly common species in captivity)
- Emu
- Rheas (either of the to species would be suitable)
- Grey tinamou (a large and rare species of tinamou - its sad that eggs aren't included in-game, as this species lays ridiculously vivid blue eggs)
Waterfowl
- Swans (this could be any of the six true swans or the South American coscoroba swan)
- Geese (this could include goose-like species such as the Egyptian, spur-winged, Orinoco and magpie geese as well as the true goose species)
- Magellanic steamerduck (not hugely abundant in captivity but is one of the largest ducks on earth)
- Screamers (any of the three species are kept, but the Southern screamer is the most familiar and commonly-kept)
Landfowl
- Green peafowl (this species occupies a more open, savanna-like habitat than the current Indian peafowl and is also a more endangered species)
- Ocellated turkey (I think possibly the bird I want most in the game - unbelievably colourful and shares its native range with the Baird's tapir)
- Himalayan monal (a cold-weather bird that shares its range with the snow leopard; could possibly be replaced with the Chinese monal)
- Satyr tragopan
- Curassow (there are fifteen species to choose from, including two critically endangered and one extinct in the wild species)
- Horned guan
- Mound-builders (this group of birds includes the Australian brush-turkey and malleefowl, both from Australia, and the Indonesian maleo)
Other waterbirds
- Penguins (perhaps the most charismatic birds around - there are a number of species that would work well in the game)
- Flamingos (it seems possible these are in the game, so its a matter of wondering which species it is - personally, I'm hoping for the Chilean flamingo)
- Pelicans (any of the eight species would work - they naturally occur on every continent except Antarctica)
- Great cormorant (would work well with the East Asian theme, considering the use of cormorants in traditional fishing there)
- Cranes (any species would be suitable - all are kept in captivity although perhaps most familiar are the African crowned cranes)
- Storks (again, almost any species would do - they naturally occupy every continent except Antarctica)
- Herons (large species such as the African goliath heron have been kept in open mixed exhibits with large herbivores)
- Shoebill (another charismatic waterbird, albeit one that is very scarce in zoos)
Predatory birds
- Secretary bird (a charismatic bird of the African savannah and has been mixed with other species including large ungulates)
- Red-legged seriema (as above, except from South America)
Other ground birds
- Takahe (only kept in New Zealand, but one of the more colourful and charismatic flightless birds of that country)
- Giant coot (not kept in zoos currenly, although it was in the past - this South American bird is the only one that becomes flightless with age)
- Kagu (a flightless bird of New Caledonia, with an extendable crest; is kept in a few zoos around the world)
- Bustards (there are a number of potential species from four continents - the kori, great, Australian and great Indian would all work well in my view)
- Kakapo (as with the takahe, except if anything even more charismatic - however there are none currently in zoos)
- Crowned pigeon (any of the four species would work, although the Victoria crowned is most familiar)
I have tried to ensure that only birds above a certain weight (around 2kg) are included - if there was the option to go smaller then there are many other available species such as other flightless rails, pheasants, partridges, quail, junglefowl and prairie chickens, guineafowl, roadrunners and a larger variety of ducks.
A couple of birds I didn't consider:
- Kiwi (these are only visible inside nocturnal houses; at zoos where these birds are kept in standard aviaries, even the keepers often struggle to see them)
- Vultures (I know a number of zoos keep flight-restricted vultures in open paddocks, but I would rather be keeping these birds as flight-capable in an aviary)
