Grasslands
The Grasslands is an indoor habitat where small songbirds from around the globe birds fly freely around you. This recently renovated habitat is a serene, quiet space where the soft chirps, trills, and songs of finches and sparrows surround you. Natural light filters in through skylights above you.
In 2024, the Grasslands was beautifully revamped and features new and improved roofing, additional lush plants and greenery, and new skylight glazing that maximizes UV transmittance for our birds. The National Aviary, including this recent renovation, is supported in part by the taxpayers of Allegheny County through a public grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD). RAD works here.
You may see beautiful Green Singing Finches gathering nesting material, or catch the inquisitive Owl Finches peering at you from the branches of trees. Shaft-tailed Finches land on perches close by. A Red Siskin’s red feathers make them stand out as they fly overhead.
The National Aviary is part of global collaborative program to help save this endangered species, native to Venezuela, and boost the population. All of the Red Siskins living in the Grasslands habitat were born in our state-of-the-art Breeding Center!
The plantscape of the Grasslands incorporates inspiration from grassland habitats around the world.