My Visit to the National AviaryByFlat Stanley Lambchop

Hi, Mrs. Strokers 1st Grade Class!Its me Flat Stanley!

I just got back from spending the spring at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

An Aviary is a zoo just for birds.

The National Aviary is the biggest indoor bird zoo in America!They have more than 600 birds! Wow!

I got to be a zookeeper while I was there.This is Steve. Hes like the principal at the National Aviary.

Hes really nice.

I made a lot of new zookeeper friends.Like JamieAnd Andy

I made a lot of new zookeeper friends.And AaronAnd even some of the birds!This is William. Hes a Victoria Crowned Pigeon from Australia.

I got to help Tracey make lunches for the birds.Birds sure eat a lot of fruit and vegetables! Some of them eat fish and chicken, too.

The zookeepers have a meeting every morning.They talk about all the things the birds did the day before.Thats me!

The zookeepers have a meeting every morning.My new friend Aaron took notes. I helped him spell the really hard words.

After the meeting, I helped feed Benito.Benito is a Hyacinth Macaw.

Thats the biggest kind of parrot in the world!

There are more than 100 birds to feed in the Tropical Forest room!I liked the long toes on the Africana jacana.This Fire-tufted Barbet was born at the National Aviary only a couple months ago.

I had to climb a tree to say hito Sweetpea!Shes a Guira Cuckoo!

I even got to help Aaron feed the penguins!This penguin is named Stanley!

Dont you think we look alike?

I got to go on an Outreach!Thats when Zookeepers visit schools to teach classes about birds. Zookeeper Chris and I took a penguin named Simon and read a book about penguins.

I got to go on an Outreach!The whole class already knew who I was!I was really glad I got to visit.Thats me in front!

When we got back to the National Aviary, we found out that something really special had happened!

A Snowy Owl, all the way from Alaska, had stopped to spend the day on the roof of this church!Hey! Thats right down the street from the Aviary!

The last time anybody saw a Snowy Owl in Pittsburgh was 25 years ago!

Snowy Owls usually stay up around the North Pole.Thats the same kind of owl that Harry Potter has!

People came from all over to see the Snowy Owl.Kyle and John are college students from West Virginia! They drove all the way to Pittsburgh so they could see the Owl.

Kyle even showed me how to use the telescope so I could see the Owl up close.

She was so pretty, I could have watched her all day!

But I still had a lot of work to do back at the Aviary.I still had to clean up after the White Dove flock.

But I still had a lot of work to do back at the Aviary.And it was going to take all my energy to play with the Rainbow Lorikeets!

Im really glad I got to visit the National Aviary.

Maybe you can visit, too, if youre ever in Pittsburgh, PA!Thanks a lot to Corwin and Corwins Mom for arranging my visit to Pittsburgh! You guys are the best!Honk!