Seven Birds and a Zebra

Each April – though spring can feel far – new birds fly daily into Brooklyn. Hundreds of species pass through NYC during their migration from South America to northern breeding grounds. A single bird will travel thousands of miles. The city’s parks and ponds offer serious R&R.

So it seems an appropriate moment to honor birds. This slideshow features seven different kinds of birds from the St. Louis Zoo. Whenever I return home, my mom and I will visit the zoo, which is among the largest, most ethical zoos in the world. The Bird House contains seven spacious aviaries built of nearly invisible piano-wire.

For years I have admired the straightforward prose of animal info signs. Better than any literature I’ve come across, these signs effortlessly evoke nature’s violence, mysteriousness, gorgeousness, sexiness, and ceaseless activity. Accompanying captions were copied down using my mom’s pencil. I used her back for a writing surface.

As the title suggests, this slideshow ends with the Grévy’s Zebra.

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Bateleur Eagle (Africa) – “It eats just about any small animal it encounters, dead or alive.”