RAD-funded renovation at National Aviary to upgrade the Wetlands – bird-friendly glass included!

Birds and windows have a reputation for not getting along. Watch enough cartoons and television commercials, and you’re bound to see some poor computer-generated bird collide with plate glass. Bird-friendly glass is one way to help prevent such collisions in real life.

At the National Aviary on Pittsburgh’s North Side, they take animal safety seriously – and that includes thinking very carefully about the glass that surrounds the building’s habitats.

“We want to make sure that everything we do here is for the optimal welfare of our animals,” said Cheryl Tracy, Executive Director of the National Aviary.

On Wednesday, the Aviary kicked off a $2.5 million renovation project to the Wetlands – its largest habitat and the second-oldest at the facility. Workers will be installing a new walkway, the installation of a pebbly beach, exciting new interactive features, and a replacement for the 52-year-old glass panes with bird-friendly glass.

The Allegheny Regional Asset District is providing $750,000 to the Aviary as a Capital Project grant.

“RAD has supported the Aviary for more than 25 years,” said Tracy. “And we are so, so grateful for all of the support RAD has provided us.”

Vitro Architectural Glass is providing the bird-friendly glass – approximately 20,000 square feet of it – to replace the glass that dates back to the habitat’s construction in 1969. While in flight, birds can sometimes see the natural environment reflected in windows and may collide with them. The new energy efficient glass features etchings that are visible to birds – helping to keep the Aviary’s birds and those outside in the surrounding park safe as well.

The renovation project will be a quick one in order to get the nearly 150 birds (among about 40 species – including the fan-favorite flamingos) who reside in the Wetlands back inside their habitat. The habitat is expected to reopen before the end of the year, perhaps around Steelers season when fans will be flocking to the North Side from all over.

“The fact that the National Aviary is here, in Allegheny County, exemplifies a lot of what Pittsburgh has,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “When I talk to national firms, this is part of the economic development conversation. Assets such as the Aviary, the museums and cultural entities are right at the top of the list.”

While the renovation work proceeds this summer, Aviary visitors get a unique opportunity to see some of those 150 birds – including flamingos - outside of their usual Wetlands home. A new Wonderful Waterbirds show has begun – with times at Noon, 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM for the length of the habitat closure.

And when the Wetlands birds move back home later this year, they can be assured that their habitat will be safe and secure for at least another half-century... and keeping the glass collisions to the cartoons.