The Zoological Society of San Diego's
Bird Collection

Birds can fascinate and delight us with their colorful feathers, nesting habitats, flying or swimming skills, and musical songs. These winged wonders have been an important part of the Zoological Society of San Diego since its inception. The Society has one of the most comprehensive bird collections in the world, (almost 400 species and subspecies and over 3,500 individual birds) housed at our San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park facilities. This includes a number of endangered and incredibly unique and rare species. The Zoological Society is a leader in collaborating internationally with bird breeding programs, with the Zoo and Park raising and providing birds to send to zoo facilities around the world to help with their breeding programs. Below are some highlights of our collection:

At the San Diego Zoo

The Zoo has the largest collection of bird species in the United States, with several species that are rare at zoo facilities, including the great blue turaco, from West Africa, and the Blyth's tragopan, the only breeding pair in captivity in the world. Rare species that are also endangered include the Micronesian kingfisher, Bali mynah, Andean condor, and Congo peafowl, all part of Species Survival Programs (SSPs) administered by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The San Diego Zoo is also home to species that are rare or extinct in the wild. We have the only breeding pair of harpy eagles in all of North America and Europe and the only Talaud red-and-blue lories in U.S. zoos. The Zoo and Wild Animal Park are the only two facilities in the U.S. to house the endangered kagu, native to New Caledonia. And the Zoo is one of just three facilities in the world used as a quarantine staging area for the eventual return of a bird extinct in the wild, the Guam rail, to its native Guam.

At the Wild Animal Park

The Wild Animal Park has the largest and most comprehensive collection of hornbills, storks, and pelicans in the zoo world. We are the only facility in North America to have Dalmatian pelicans and to have bred them as well as pink-backed pelicans and great white pelicans. Our hornbill and stork collection, and many other species, are considered irreplaceable. We also have the largest off-exhibit bird-breeding facility—134 aviaries—of any zoo in North America.

The Park has enjoyed a number of firsts in bird breeding worldwide for a variety of hornbills and the African open-billed stork. We were also the first facility in North America to successfully breed yellow-casqued, black-casqued, Abysinnian ground and long-tailed hornbills, as well as the California condor, southern bald ibis, crested coua, Storm's stork, and two species of bee-eaters.

Zoological Society of San Diego

We are proud to house four of the six flamingo species, all breeding flocks, and the unique-in-captivity shoebill stork and great blue turaco. The Society supports in situ bird projects in Indonesia, Thailand, Colombia, Mexico, and South Africa and is involved in a kiwi reproduction study and California condor genetic and behavioral studies with CRES, the Zoological Society's research arm.

The Zoological Society is part of endangered bird recovery programs for the San Clemente loggerhead shrike, California and Andean condors, Guam rail, light-footed clapper rail, and harpy eagle. The Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program is a unique conservation partnership composed of CRES, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the State of Hawaii, and Hawaii's private landowners. Together we are working to recover 22 species of endangered Hawaiian forest birds. This program clearly demonstrates the significant role captive propagation can play in worldwide conservation efforts as well as providing a model for a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to endangered species recovery. The Society has recently received awards from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for our California Condor Recovery Program and our participation in the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.