Kookaburra Sits On An Old Gum Tree (almost)

Know that song about the kookaburra?  We saw one.  Almost.  Sometimes people go to Australia to see one.  Sometimes they go to Niagara Falls.

Australia was a little far, so we chose the latter. 

OK, so we visited the Bird Kingdom there, one of the Fall's attractions that I have studiuosly avoided.  Tropical birds in a cold country can only mean one thing - cages.  But when I looked up the info it said the place was the biggest free-flying aviary in the world - 400 specimens of 80 species frolicked there, it said.  So we went.  I was still dubious, but we went. 

There was a caged parrot right at the entrance.  That's about when DaddyBoy had to start shushing me.  Anyway, we kept going.  Well, that poor kookaburra was in a cage.  No wonder he wasn't laughing.

They did have a large aviary where the birds were free, but how does an aviary compare with a tropical forest?  Are there really any educational merits to something like this?  I'm not really sure.  The LittleBug loved petting the lizards and the alligator (he was two feet long - a baby) and the snake, and she enjoyed the birds, all of which the lady assured me had never seen anything but captivity, so they couldn't possibly miss the freedom of well, being free.  But what about their instincts, I thought.  Why would a snake enjoy being handled the whole day?  Why was the poor baby alligator in a plastic tote box that wasn't any bigger than itself?

The NanoBot, free of such conflicts, had a good time. 

A few pics:

We couldn't help marveling at the birds.  Don't they look hand-painted?

This is a zebra finch.

And this is some sort of waxbill, I think.

I can't remember looking up this guy, but he was an amazing combination of colors.

And this big guy, called a Victoria Crwon Pigeon, is actually the largest of the pigeons - he was huge. 

So pretty!

They had some Javanese architectural elements replicated to give the place a more authentic rainforest feel.  I somehow managed to botch all those pics.

I spotted this lovely tree, so of course I had to take pictures of its leaves.

And the kookaburra?  Yes, I did take a couple of pics, but the cage bars are showing.  I just couldn't post it.