National Aviary's New Show Offers Lesson About Cultural Ties Between People, Birds

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Burrowing owls and a laughing kookaburra are just part of a show opening Friday at the National Aviary.

Bird trainer Cathy Schlott offers a preview of "Nature's Voice," demonstrating how the owl escapes predators.

"In the wild," she says, "burrowing owls will find burrows, or holes dug into the ground, and they will take them over once abandoned, such as prairie dog holes."

She also introduces the African palm nut vulture. The trainer emphasizes that this is not a show about birds doing tricks.

"Nature's Voice has actually been years in the making, because we've been trying to figure out a great way to educate people about the cultural ties between people and birds. So not only is it going to showcase the birds and what they're doing out in the wild, but it's going to touch how birds have affected people's lives throughout history."

Showing off a kookaburra, she says, "Over in Australia, they're known as the 'bushman's alarm clock.'"

Getting the kookaburra to vocalize takes a bit more time than training the other birds to perform simple tasks. But once he sees the microphone in the trainer's hand, he lets out a series of squawks that sound like laughter.

Schlott promises that many more birds will also appear in the multi-media show at the Aviary.

"If you have a favorite bird, it might be in our bird show," Schlott says.

For more information about the new show, visit the National Aviary's website here. Nature's Voice will be presented daily at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., except on Tuesdays, when the birds are resting.