I just have to include a short section for Reptiles and Birds because I have a bit of inordinate love for this building. It is a different building than the similarly named “Feathers and Scales.” Reptiles and Birds has a small free-flight area with some beautiful and unique birds (my favorite is the wattled curassow. The main hallway has large tortoises, snakes, and lizards. Amusingly, Feathers and Scales also has a free-flight area, snakes, lizards, etc, but I don’t like it nearly as much—mainly because those birds seem much more separated, and don’t come out into the free-flight area as much.
Reptiles and Birds is along the south border of the zoo, just east of The Living Coast and Café del Sol. The building is long and narrow, and has a closed-off entrance in the middle, you instead enter from either end.
The main hallway of Reptiles and Birds has a variety of lizards and snakes. There are also multiple enclosures with large tortoises which have always been a big hit with my kids. A lot of the lizards and snakes are in windows that are hard for small children to see, but the tortoises are at a pretty perfect height for even toddlers.
What puts Reptiles and Birds in a special place in my heart, however, is the free flight area in the middle of the building. There is far less flying than in several other areas, but the birds are just beautiful and unique, including two macaws. There’s a nice bench to just sit and watch, enjoying the beautiful and usually calm scene. Although there’s not nearly as much flight, several of the large birds like to explore the area, and check out visitors. I’ve even gotten lucky once and had a zookeeper let us feed small insects to the birds.
The closest bathrooms are further West, just past Café del Sol on the left.
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