Pioneer Park Aviary

Close to the center of Walla Walla is the city’s oldest park, Pioneer Park, which has trails, ponds, record-holding old-growth trees, monuments, and a historic bandstand. What is most astonishing about this park is that in the southwest corner, near the rose garden, you will find a brilliant array of colorful feathers adorning around 200 birds of 30-35 different species, including waterfowl, in enclosed spaces that include incubation and rearing facilities with a care and quarantine area for birds. 

Get up close and personal with white peacocks, wood ducks, golden pheasants, quail, doves, ducks, and geese while watching them interact with each other, and with the world around them, such as an exodus to hide under trees when a hawk flies overhead. (There is netting above, so no birds are in danger from raptors.) In one cage, a Reeve’s pheasant will follow you curiously as you circle the enclosure. In another enclosure, branches of trees are filled with Crested pigeons with mohawks. 

Originally built with donated funds, the Pioneer Park Aviary opened in 1983. It is free to view and open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The park is owned and managed by the city, and during much of its existence, renovations and operating budget come from donations. The aviary’s mission is entertainment and education. Informational signs are placed to name specific birds and provide facts about them.

The aviary includes a large, enclosed pond surrounded by five smaller buildings with birds, as well as a larger incubation and rearing facility.