Taronga will be hosting a celebration of all things feathered on land, in the air and in the water in its inaugural Taronga Bird Festival from September 29 – October 31.

 There’s something for twitchers, as bird watchers are known, of all ages with a range of daily bird talks, bird tours and bird-themed activities at Taronga Zoo, and special events such as lecture nights and art shows hosted by supporters outside the Zoo.

 Taronga has an array of aviaries that are home to hundreds of colourful bird species just waiting to be discovered by keen young twitchers during the upcoming Twitchathon.

 Daily free presentations including a Cassowary Talk, Penguin Talk and a Pelican talk. Tours and activities will include a guided bird walk and a rainforest bird walk, bird-themed touch tables, and a bird-attracting plant display.  

Curator, Nick Atchinson, said “The Taronga Bird Festival is a celebration of birds and all the wonderful ways that they influence our lives.

 “Birds have been cultural symbols since the earliest civilisations. Still today they represent countless sports teams and corporations as mascots and logos.

 “Even the smallest, plainest birds can possess the most extraordinary personalities. Once people engage with birds they develop a fascination that just grows and grows,” said Nick.

Taronga supports the Regent Honeyeater National Recovery Plan which has seen the successful breeding and release of over 70 birds at Taronga which have been released into the wild. Regent Honeyeaters are critically endangered with estimates of only 500 to 1500 birds left in the wild.

 In partnership with the Taronga Bird Festival there will be a bird-themed movie night at the Orpheum Cinema, a Lecture at the Australian Museum and Landside Gallery will be hosting a Bird Art Exhibition.

More details about the Bird festival including timetables and external events are available here.