The Catalina Island Museum has opened a second exhibition for the winter Bird Park: An Aviary for Avalon’s Celebrity Birds. Uniquely Catalina, the exhibition showcases some of the park’s legendary bird personalities, rare pottery pieces, artifacts, photographs, news articles, and archival film footage.
Situated in Avalon Canyon and home to thousands of species of rare and exotic birds, Catalina’s world-famous Bird Park was an enchanting island attraction. It began as a passionate dream of E.H. Lewis, former California Fish and Game Commission employee, visionary wildlife conservationist and self-professed “bird man.” With enthusiastic support and funding from William Wrigley Jr., he created a state-of-the-art haven for rare birds. Ahead of its time, it included a breeding program for endangered species and a research facility for scientists. It also offered hundreds of thousands of visitors to Catalina Island a once-in-a-lifetime experience with some of the world’s most exotic birds.
Bird Park was one of Wrigley’s most extraordinary gifts to the people of Catalina and also his favorite attraction. He gleefully toured each of his guests – including President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge – through the park. He can also be seen in numerous photographs playing with birds or beaming with pride while observing its splendor. The three dedicated caretakers of Bird Park considered the birds their family members and treated them as beloved pets. Many articles report amusing stories that reveal the personalities of individual birds. Rudy the cassowary, award-winning Alma the hyacinth macaw and Jimmy the talking mynah bird are but a few.
The fame of Catalina’s fascinating and beautiful birds spread across the country and attracted the attention of vacationers, scientists, painters, advertisers, filmmakers and especially the ceramicists at the Catalina Clay Products factory, whose classic bird murals can be seen throughout Avalon to this day.
Between 1929 and 1966, no visit to Catalina Island was complete without a delightful hour or two spent enjoying the feathered celebrities of Bird Park.
Bird Park: An Aviary for Avalon’s Celebrity Birds will be on view through April 14, 2019. Admission to the museum is $17 for adults and $15 for seniors, military and students with a valid I.D. Members of the museum enjoy free admission every day. Children, age 15 and under, receive free admission with the purchase of an adult ticket.
The Catalina Island Museum offers the best in art and history exhibitions, music and dance performances, lectures by guest speakers from all over the world, and the finest in silent, documentary and international film. Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The new Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building is located in the heart of Avalon at 217 Metropole Avenue. For more information, call the museum at 310-510-2414 or visit CatalinaMuseum.org.
