Exotic birds to be featured at Waddesdon Manor with exhibitions and outdoor activities planned

Waddesdon Manor has announced a series of bird-related events will be taking place at the beauty site this summer.

This will include bird-themed exhibitions, interactive events and outdoor activities. Waddesdon Manor says the series is designed to appeal to both experts and fledgling enthusiasts.

Visitors will be encouraged to visit the manor’s aviary which is home to hundreds of beautiful birds, plus exotic and endangered species. Families can also participate in bird-spotting trail to check out colourful and noisy songbirds. There is the chance to see the rare Socorro Dove or a Painted Bunting. Then there will be Indian Hill Mynahs which are known to shout ‘hello’ at passersby.

The manor is also launching its Tell it to the Birds sculpture which was created by contemporary artist Jenny Kendler. Guests can whisper a message, into the sculpture that will then be translated into chirps, calls and chirrups.

Guests can sponsor a bird at the Aviary with proceeds going towards the conservation of the Rothschild mynah – the snowy white bird with a startling blue eye mask native to Bali which was named after Walter, second Lord Rothschild (1868-1937), a famous zoologist.

Also, Meet the Aviary Keeper events are planned throughout the summer. Customers can pick up a Waddesdon Bird Spotting Guide before wandering around the grounds.

Berkshire Birds of Prey come to visit. From 25 May until 27 May children receive free entry to the house and grounds for the special May bank holiday weekend Escape from the Aviary. This includes the chance to glove up and meet the likes of Bella the Barn Owl, Buddy the Hawk, Princess Leia the Falcon and more.

A spokesperson for the manor said: “The gardens are also having an avian-inspired artistic intervention. Two impressive 3D bedding bird sculptures will be showing off their fancy plumage during the summer months, and on the Parterre, a specially designed carpet bed will translate a drawing of two orioles into a complex living mosaic made up of over 25,000 succulent plants.”

The works are inspired by the famous bird-painter on porcelain, Louis-Denis Armand.