Fascinating birdlife

Feathered diversity

From rock ptarmigan and kingfisher to green woodpecker and peregrine falcon: there are more than 10,900 bird species worldwide - and each of them is unique. The fascinating diversity is reflected in eggs and nests, feathers and beak shapes as well as individual behaviours.

All these and other facets of the bird world are vividly illuminated in the exhibition at the Weiherburg Natural History Museum near the Alpenzoo. We follow the evolutionary development back to the age of the dinosaurs and explore the common paths of birds and humans. The bird song quiz involves recognising different bird species by their songs and learning new things through play. Interesting puzzles and amazing surprises await both children and adults at a tactile station.

In this way, the exhibition invites visitors to become more attentive to the "Fascinating World of Birds" in the great outdoors and perhaps see birds with slightly different eyes from now on. Curator Petra Schattanek-Wiesmair, zoologist in the Natural Science Collection of the Tyrolean State Museums, would also like to use the exhibition to encourage respectful behaviour towards the bird world, because as the behavioural biologist Konrad Lorenz once said: "You only protect what you love and you only love what you know."