In a 2022 issue of The Nib magazine focusing on urbanity, cartoonist Ted Closson reflected on his time in Houston through the city’s relationship with birds. He takes particular interest in a magnolia tree outside his apartment, which he believes may have been “the only viable roost in the area.” Hundreds of birds huddled into it at night, occupying every branch and sleeping nestled together regardless of species. It’s a quiet, thoughtful meditation on the ways in which ecosystems work both around and out of sight of humans, which the Houston Zoo explores in its new Birds of the World exhibition, which features 137 individual birds representing 34 different species.

One of the three pavilions in this 1.3-acre aviary, which opened to the public on August 30 after two years of construction, exclusively features birds found in the Houston area, both indigenous species as well as those that pass through on their annual migratory routes. Dubbed the “North American Woodlands” habitat, visitors can watch bobwhite quails, indigo buntings, Baltimore orioles, northern cardinals, blue grosbeaks, and other species darting around yaupon, beauty berries, and coastal grasses. Bluebonnets and other familiar wildflowers have a planned appearance come springtime.

The scene spotlights what many Houstonians are blessed to see in their own backyards, or at least a local park. Local flora and fauna recontextualized in a zoo setting is a strategic choice. Visitors can better understand the interconnectivity between biomes. The overlooked commonalities of Gulf Coast wildlife are juxtaposed alongside the comparative exoticism of more than 50 Chilean flamingos in the South American Wetlands aviary and the vultures, cranes, and ibises in the African Savanna aviary. It sends a clear message: even our everyday birds deserve to be seen and protected just as much as their international cousins.

“A few species in [the Woodlands] aviary are part of the North American Songbird Safe Program, saving animals from extinction,” says Ric Urban, curator of birds at the Houston Zoo. “We have many programs where we work together collaboratively with other zoos and aquariums.”

For example, some of the quails were acquired via a US Fish and Wildlife mission to curb the illegal pet trade. Houston Zoo rehabilitated some of the rescued birds and released them back into the wild, but others had to make the new aviary their “forever home,” as Urban calls it.

At first glance, the squat, brown-black-and-white-flecked bobwhite quails have little in common with the flamboyant, almost painterly grace of the grey crowned cranes in the Savanna aviary next door. It’s like putting Danny DeVito right up next to Megan Thee Stallion. Both birds, however, are favored by poachers, who then sell these wild animals on the black market as pets. Birds of the World connects these unexpected dots, highlighting overlooked links between seemingly disparate species and telling stories beyond the confines of a cage.

The very design of the new exhibition centers around storytelling and context. We can’t learn about birds’ true nature without seeing them in a thoughtfully engineered approximation of environments that encourage their innate behaviors and relationships. Houston Zoo’s previous bird exhibits were designed more for display in mind, while the new Birds of the World intends to show a much more well-rounded perspective on the wildlife in their care.

“Anybody who remembers the old flamingo habitat can probably see a lot of different elements that will remind them of what the grounds used to look like. We’ve just upgraded and given the animals more space and more choices. It reflects the advanced animal care that we do here at the Houston Zoo,” says Tarah Cornelius, Houston Zoo’s director of animal care.

The animals have choices for sitting, perching, and roosting, and can interact with different species. They can also free fly. Zoo president and CEO Lee Ehmke notes that flamingos have traditionally been exhibited through pinioning, a surgical process that removes one of the wing’s pinion joints to prevent birds from flying off. “We want to move away from that,” he says, so the flamingos (as well as the other Birds of the World) in the exhibit enjoy the fullest range of natural motion in their enclosure.

The South American Wetlands area they call home is also designed to encourage visitors to enter the enclosure itself and interact with the flamingos, roseate spoonbills (which call the Gulf Coast home as well), and other inhabitants—to an extent. While touching and feeding the birds is of course off-limits, standing at the edge of the pond allows you to experience what it’s like to have gangly pink wonders soaring above your head. It’s a degree of interactivity that one just can’t get from viewing a simple cage decorated with a tree and some foliage. (Don’t worry, there’s a separate viewing area where you can avoid the risk of a flyby.)

While the Savanna pavilion doesn’t incorporate the same level of human-animal connection as the South American Wetlands, it provides a unique glimpse at a complete ecosystem we certainly aren’t witnessing among the bayous. One of the more wondrous elements involves the construction of a massive, dome-shaped nest by the zoo’s hamerkops. These tiny storks with hammer-shaped heads (hamerkops literally means “hammerhead” in Afrikaans) built what Ehmke refers to as “almost like a multifamily condominium.” Other birds in the enclosure, such as the Malagasy sacred ibis and three different species of vulture, use the nest as a perch—and sometimes even as their own nest.

The hamerkops don’t mind, though. They build the biggest nest on the African continent—quite a feat for one of the world’s smallest species of stork—for a reason. Most animals, much like humans, need connections. What the hamerkops provide is functionally a community center, a place where its fellow avians can rest and nest, even create a sort of safety in numbers against predators.

“Houston Zoo, for many, many years, has had a really significant collection of birds,” Ehmke says. “As we’ve changed the concept of zoos, we’re interested not so much in having collections, but in showing relationships and showing communities and connecting the birds and the animals.”

Instead of showing birds as objects in a small space, he adds, the exhibit displays a complete picture of their habitat. He believes the way Birds of the World is organized facilitates a broader conversation regarding the zoo’s bird conservation efforts.

Houston Zoo partners with Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association and its founder, conservationist and veterinarian Olivier Nsengimana, to help restore grey crowned crane populations. The initiative provides equipment, training, consultations, and salaries to the local veterinarians and zookeepers who work daily with Rwanda’s flora and fauna, as well as educational initiatives to encourage nearby schoolkids how to love and protect the savanna.

Houstonians don’t need to book an international flight to take part in the zoo’s own conservation efforts, though. It's doing plenty right here at home, and wants us to do our part, too. Urban says Houston has the second-highest rate of bird collisions with buildings in the country. Turning our lights out from 11pm to 6am helps birds that fly through Houston at night. He also suggests setting up feed stations in the spring and fall for migratory birds.

There’s a lot at stake when we live and work in isolation from our local ecosystems. As Birds of the World shows us, it goes beyond forcing flocks to sleep in the cramped corners of one magnolia tree. But we have options to start nurturing positive change right at home, in our little swampy corner of the Gulf Coast.