Tracy Aviary and Botanical Garden  

Visit our website at tracyaviary.org

Tracy Aviary was founded in 1938 when Russell Lord Tracy donated his private bird collection to the City of Salt Lake for the benefit of the City’s children. Now in it’s 85th year, Tracy Aviary has grown to become one of Salt Lake’s best loved cultural landmarks, as well as a leader in environmental education and conservation. Our commitment to conservation began in the 1940s, when Tracy Aviary was honored to be one of four zoos that aided in hatching cygnets that were eventually released into the wild, leading to the removal of the Trumpeter Swan from the endangered species list.

Species Survival Plans

Our conservation work continues with our aviculture and conservation teams. Tracy Aviary’s aviculture team participates in AZA Species Survival Plans (SSPs), including an SSP for the Guam Kingfisher (pictured above), which has been extinct in the wild since the 1980s. Tracy Aviary holds two breeding pairs of Guam Kingfishers, and these pairs have produced three offspring.

Field Conservation

Tracy Aviary’s Conservation Science Program extends outside the Aviary to help protect birds and their habitats. We provide annual grants and pledges to bird conservation projects throughout the Americas, and we conduct our own research and monitoring programs in Utah with the help of citizen/community scientists. Focusing on key local habitats and pressing regional conservation issues, our goals are to gather novel information about local avian ecology, inform habitat restoration and stewardship, and engage a diverse community in scientific data collection.

You can learn about Tracy Aviary’s Conservation Science projects here.

Did you know?

Tracy Aviary has 420 birds representing 127 species.