founded 2003 headquarters 5651 river road niagara falls ontario l2e 7m7 area served united states and canada number of employees 20 website official website bird kingdom is located in the tourist district of niagara falls ontario canada . previously the home of the niagara falls museum the building was re opened as a free flying aviary in may 2003 . it is now one of the largest indoor aviaries in the world encompassing approximately 45 000 square feet 4 200 m2 and it houses over 300 individual birds the majority of which come from australia south america and africa . it also houses mammals insects and reptiles and even an amphibian the dyeing poison frog . bird kingdom has been voted niagara falls attraction of the year four times and trip advisor destination winner for 2011 & 2012 . 1 contents 1 history 2 areas and attractions 2.1 small aviary 2.2 reptile encounter zone 2.3 nocturnal zone 2.4 main aviary 2.5 javanese tea house 3 gallery 4 notes 5 external links history edit the spirella corset company in 1900s . in 1908 the spirella corset company built a four story concrete building on the current site of the aviary . by 1958 the company had shrunk in size resulting in the company s moving their location to a smaller facility . the building was purchased that year by jacob sherman who owned the niagara falls museum . sherman then renovated the building extensively adding a five story viewing tower while also moving 700 000 artifacts to the building . 2 it was discovered later that the museum had been home to the actual mummy of king ramesses i. 3 4 by that time of that discovery however the museum was closed and the mummy back in egypt . the museum was operated by the sherman family until 1999 when the maintenance of the building and artifacts became too costly . most of the artifacts were sold or returned to their place of origin . larry vann a resident of the niagara area purchased the museum building . over the next few years 15 million was spent on renovations to the building . the renovations included a large addition to the south side of the old museum building . in june 2003 the building re opened as bird kingdom at the niagara falls aviary . 5 areas and attractions edit small aviary edit a wattled jacana at the small aviary . this section of the aviary houses smaller birds some of them so small that six of them can be held on a person s hand . the small aviary houses over fifty types of birds among which are some endangered and rare species . it overlooks the niagara gorge a well known bird watching spot and bird breeding ground . 6 reptile encounter zone edit the reptile encounter zone contains a wide collection of reptiles from around the world . it holds lizards snakes tortoises spiders and scorpions . some of the animals in this exhibit are able to be touched and held by visitors to bird kingdom . 7 nocturnal zone edit the nocturnal zone is built to resemble an ancient jungle ruin where many nocturnal animals reside . the exhibit is kept dark during the day and bright during the night to ensure that visitors see the creatures when they are most active . bats owls and other animals inhabit this area of the aviary . fruit bat feedings are done at various times during the day . 8 main aviary edit a silvery cheeked hornbill in the main aviary . the 16 million section of bird kingdom consists of 45 000 square feet 4 200 m2 of rainforest and houses almost 400 birds . those birds represent approximately 80 species from around the globe which live in the tropical environment maintained at 76 degrees fahrenheit . in addition to the birds there is also a 40 foot 12 m tall waterfall . visitors are able to feed lorikeets take guided tours and meet the curator of the museum . 9 javanese tea house edit bird kingdom houses the only authentic javanese nobleman s house in north america . the house was hand carved with solid teak wood and constructed without nails . in the 19th century houses like this were for the aristocratic class . the front door of the house faces south supposedly facing the sea . the intricate carving on the roof shows visitors that the house was for a nobleman . the tea house formerly sold food and beverages on weekends . 10 this part of bird kingdom includes a bromeliad and orchid exhibit . gallery edit blue grey tanager thraupis episcopus collared finchbill spizixos semitorques victoria crowned pigeon goura victoria red crested turaco tauraco erythrolophus red cheeked cordon bleu uraeginthus bengalus hybrid white cheeked turaco x red crested turaco tauraco leucotis notes edit official website of bird kingdom . friendly ghost of the museum & corset factory retrieved 2010 12 27 . history of bird kingdom . retrieved 2010 12 27 . mummy of ramesses i. retrieved 2010 12 27 . history of niagara falls museum . retrieved 2010 12 27 . small aviary at bird kingdom . retrieved 2010 12 27 reptile encounter zone . retrieved 2010 12 27 nocturnal zone at bird kingdom . retrieved 2010 12 27 . niagara frontier retrieved 2010 12 26 . javanese tea house in bird kingdom . retrieved 2010 12 27 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to bird kingdom . tour information v t e zoos and aquaria of ontario aquaria marineland ripley s aquarium of canada zoos african lion safari bowmanville zoo defunct high park zoo killman zoo jungle cat world niagara parks butterfly conservatory bird kingdom formerly niagara falls aviary papanack park zoo riverdale farm riverview park & zoo toronto zoo elmvale jungle zoo coordinates 43 05 33 n 79 04 06 w 43.09250 n 79.06833 w 43.09250 ; 79.06833 niagara falls aviary retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bird kingdom & oldid 726517009 categories aviaries in canadabuildings and structures in niagara falls ontariovisitor attractions in niagara falls ontariozoos in ontariohidden categories commons category with page title same as on wikidatacoordinates not on wikidataarticles needing infobox zoo navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 22 june 2016 at 17 56 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view