Small birds. Small aviary or bigger exhibit?

[Spiderhawk]

Hey everybody, today I wanted to talk about smaller birds you would like and how we would have them in our zoos. Now I am not talking about the aviaries that have been frequently discussed for larger birds. no eagles, vultures, hawks or any large flying bird that would need a larger aviary to contain. Also please don’t mention larger birds that probably won’t fly away in an open habitat example cranes, Shoebills etc.
I was thinking about some kind of larger exhibit (think bigger then our exhibits but similar in function) that would be suitable for birds with perches, birdhouses, plants, rocks and water.
I would suggest these birds have looped animations but maybe have something else to them.
my ideas include
Cardinals
Blue jays
Humming birds
Parrots/parakeets
Kea
Kookaburra
Shrikes
Oxpeckers
Thrushes
Any small birds call out to you? Any larger exhibit design you would like?

 

[Doran]

I would suggest these birds have looped animations but maybe have something else to them.

They figured out flying mechanics, so why they would dont use them on small and medium sized birds? We actually know that small mammals and birds wont be ever used in exhibits with looped animations. Bird like kea would be as fully animated as bald eagle.

 

[ElectricMonk]

They figured out flying mechanics, so why they would dont use them on small and medium sized birds?

Because performance would suffer badly if lots of small birds were calculating flying pathways simultaneously. An exhibit-like system (looped animations) would solve that issue.

We actually know that small mammals and birds wont be ever used in exhibits with looped animations.

As far as I know it’s only been officially said that small mammals and birds in exhibits weren’t planned to be included at launch - I don’t think anyone has said they’re off the table.

Any small birds call out to you? Any larger exhibit design you would like?

Zebra finch

 

[DarthQuell]

How does the resplendent quetzal sound?

Lorikeets, budgerigars, cockatiels.

Toucans and aracaris.

The choices are endless, honestly

 

[Bearcat9948]

Macaws are huge

 

[NZFanatic]

Kea
Kookaburra

Both of these are similar in size to some birds of prey.

I actually agree with Doran, I don't think we'll get smaller "exhibit-like" aviaries in conjunction with more custom-ish ones, but I just think they'll simply skip out small birds overall.

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

I'm also not convinced we will get small birds at all - certainly there are enough larger birds that could be used.

If smaller birds did come, I would hope for some representation of the Southeast Asian songbirds - they are among the most critical conservation stories at the moment and zoos are doing a lot to try and prevent some species from becoming extinct. Three that I would see as good starter options are:

Javan green magpie: The symbol of Southeast Asian songbird conservation; a colourful member of the crow family that is now Critically Endangered in the wild - there are now 95 birds kept in 6 different zoos. They could also come with a rotting log enrichment item usable for a number of other species already in the game. This is my most-wanted of the small birds.

Bali starling: The most commonly-kept of the Critically Endangered Asian songbirds, with at least 138 zoos in Europe keeping them.

Nias hill myna: There are currently none kept outside of Indonesia at the moment, but they are a Critically Endangered species and are the largest of all the starlings. They are also excellent vocal mimics, although I don't think that would be workable in the game.

One advantage(?) to these three species is that none are particularly well-suited for mixed enclosures with other songbirds - all of them are nest raiders that do best in relatively small groups with members of their own species. That could reduce the performance pressures involved with huge flocks of multiple species.

 

[Firestar97]

I would be ok with this but everything close in Size to a Macaw and above should be a Habitat Animal.

How does the resplendent quetzal sound?

Pretty sure there's only one Mexican Zoo that successfully keeps them.

Nias hill myna: There are currently none kept outside of Indonesia at the moment, but they are a Critically Endangered species and are the largest of all the starlings. They are also excellent vocal mimics, although I don't think that would be workable in the game.

We could get the Common Hill Myna instead. I'm pretty sure they are way more often kept in Zoos and also as Pets.

If we can get Animals that mimic other Sounds, I would really like to have the Lyrebird in the Game. Probably one of the best Imitators that exist and we would get a additional Animal for Australia which could really need more Animals in the Game.
Speaking of Australia: the Kookaburra is also needed in the Game

I think a Pack would be nice in which every Continent gets at least 2 Aviary Birds. Maybe except Antarctic Birds. Don't know if there are flying antarctic Birds kept somewhere in the World

 

[yoav_r]

No bird exhibits, please. Zoos are moving away from those, as birds suffer in them. Aviaries all the way.

And regarding performance, the JWE2 Dimorphodon species filled guide showed ~20 of them in an aviary together, so I think based on that PZ could stand a large population of small aviary birds.