Catalina Bird Park

Catalina Bird Park, or Wrigley Bird Park, was a 20th-century collection of exotic birds and game fowl kept on Santa Catalina Island, California under the sponsorship of the island's owner William Wrigley Jr.[1] The Bird Park was located in Avalon Canyon along the Avalon municipal boundary.[2]

Catalina Bird Park
The Bird Park, one of the many interesting sights at Catalina Island, California
Tichnor Brothers postcard, UCSD Library
33.3353°N 118.3327°W / 33.3353; -118.3327
Date opened1926
Date closed1966
LocationSanta Catalina Island, California

History

The Bird Park opened in approximately 1926.[3] The Bird Park was meant to be an enticement to visit the island generally and did not produce any revenue.[4] The steel girders from the original dance hall—the one that was replaced by the Catalina Casino—were reused in the construction of the Bird Park aviary in 1928.[4] The resulting cage was 90 ft (27 m) in diameter and 115 ft (35 m) high.[2] Former President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge paid a visit in 1930.[5] Circa 1931, the aviary was open to tourists, admission was free, and there were more than 5,000 individual birds in the collection.[6] Circa 1934, Out West magazine reported that golden and ring-neck pheasants that had "been liberated" from the Bird Park were adapting well to canyons of the island.[7]

The first supervisor of the aviary, which had a breeding program, was Edward Herbert Lewis.[8] Lewis also designed the park, supervised construction, selected the exhibits,[9] and trained the talking mynahs.[10] Les Mobley was superintendent in 1951 when the bird park successfully hatched and displayed three baby emus.[11] The Catalina macaw, a hybrid macaw which takes its name from the park and is now popular as a pet was first bred in captivity at Catalina Bird Park in 1940.[12] When the Catalina Bird Park aviary closed in 1966, the newly established Los Angeles Zoo purchased the remaining 650 birds for US$14,000 (equivalent to about $126,270 in 2022).[3]

The physical plant was described as being Moorish styled in design and spread over 7.5 acres (3.0 ha).[8] The Bird Park was decorated with Catalina art tiles including several "bird murals" of toucans, macaws, crested cranes, etc.[4] The tiled fountain from the Bird Park was moved to Avalon Plaza after the aviary was shut down.[4] The Bird Park was adjacent to the Catalina Island Golf Course.[13] Some of the bird park structures have been converted into subsidized housing.[14]

Additional images

See also

References
  1. "The Los Angeles Times 21 Jul 1929, page 131". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  2. Overholt, Alma Staheli; Sargent, Jack (1978). The Catalina story. Catalina Island Museum Society, Inc. (3rd ed.). Avalon, California: Island Press. pp. 31 (girders), 33 & 73 (geography) – via Internet Archive.
  3. "The Los Angeles Times 18 Feb 1966, page 3". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  4. Rosenthal, Lee (1992). Catalina tile of the magic isle. Internet Archive. Sausalito, Calif. : Windgate Press. pp. 21 (revenue), 31 (frame), 41 (fountain). ISBN 978-0-915269-10-5.
  5. "The Los Angeles Times 21 Jul 1929, page 131". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  6. "Los Angeles Evening Express 17 Jan 1931, page 13". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  7. Overholt, Alma (August 1934). "Wild Life at Catalina". Out West Magazine. Vol. 92, no. 7. Open Court Publishing Co. p. 137 – via Internet Archive.
  8. "Honolulu Star-Bulletin 10 Nov 1934, page 4". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  9. Nellist, George Ferguson Mitchell (1941). Pan-Pacific who's who, 1940-1941: an international reference work a biographical encyclopedia of men and women of substantial achievement in the Pan-Pacific area: Alaska, Australia, British Columbia, California, Canal Zone, China, Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, Oregon, Philippines, Washington. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd.
  10. "The Los Angeles Times 03 Sep 1933, page 81". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  11. "Long Beach Press-Telegram 01 Apr 1951, page 50". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  12. Lindholm III, Joseph H. (1999). "AN HISTORICAL REVIEW OF PARROTS BRED IN ZOOS IN THE USA". The Avicultural Magazine. 105 (4). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  13. "A Step Back in Time: Bird Park". www.visitcatalinaisland.com. 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  14. "Bird Park - Thomas Safran & Associates - Affordable Housing Los Angeles". www.tsahousing.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
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