My toddler is into animals, birds, and bugs– big time. Every time he sees a bird he points it out to us. Places like the Costco parking lot, where seagulls flock by the dozens are exciting to him. So, I imagined a visit to The Hamilton Aviary would blow his mind! The Aviary is located in Hamilton’s Westdale neighbourhood, near McMaster University.
On Saturday, our little guy was having a bit of a rough day. On Thursday he came down with a cold, and on Friday he had his 18 month immunizations, so I imagine his injection site might also have been bothering him. It was rainy, so we couldn’t just head out on a walk like we sometimes do. We decided it was the perfect day to go explore the Aviary since it’s open to the public from 1-4pm on Saturday afternoons.
Quick tip: There is paid parking right next to the Aviary gates, but if you park on Oak Knoll Drive just outside the paid parking lot it is free for an hour. You don’t need more than an hour, so walk the extra 100 feet and save yourself some money!
As you enter the building you’re immediately greeted by the happy chirps and squawks of beautiful birds. There’s a spot to sign in, and if you feel inclined you can leave a donation for the ongoing maintenance of the Aviary. So although the Aviary can be a free activity for the family, I gave a little donation so that we can hopefully continue to enjoy the Aviary for years to come.
It’s clear that the birds love having visitors. As we looked around some of the volunteers mentioned the little games the birds play to keep you coming back to their enclosures. Lots of them liked to send out a “hello” or “goodbye!” as we left their areas, and they definitely seemed interested in coming over to investigate our toddler who was wearing brightly coloured clothing.
We had the opportunity to enter one of the indoor/outdoor enclosures with Jessie the cockatoo. She proved to be quite the show off and came right over and put on a very loud, very beautiful display for us. Our little guy was a little big scared and clung on tighter as Jessie called out loudly, but after we left the enclosure he begged to go back in and spend some more time with Jessie.
Our little guy also enjoyed seeing the bright colours of the macaws, the playfulness of the cockatoos, and the chattiness of the African greys. After our visit he kept proclaiming “cockatoo” and then laugh his head off when we did our best to make cockatoo noises. I think he loved his visit!
With our toddler, we spent about half an hour inside the Aviary, but I think that was because it was a rainy day. I could see spending at least an hour if you had a pre-schooler or older, and if it was a nice day outside. There are lots of gardens to explore on the grounds, and as I previously mentioned, the park outside the Aviary has a great grassy area which would be awesome for kicking around a ball, and letting little ones go interact with the birds a little more.
Additionally, you could tack on a bit of a nature walk and make a full afternoon of it because the Royal Botanical Garden’s Caleb’s Walk’s trail head is right at the Aviary’s parking lot. Caleb’s Walk trail connects with several other trails, including the Sassafrass Point Lookout on Coote’s Harbour. The trail does have some inclines, but was totally do-able pushing baby in our Uppababy Vista stroller.
Have you made a visit to Hamilton’s Aviary? Are there other similar afternoon adventures in Hamilton for toddlers with a love of animals, bugs and birds? Let me know!
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