Santa Catalina Bird Park

 United States > California > Los Angeles County > Avalon

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Thousands of rare and beautiful birds are to be seen at the famous Santa Catalina Bird Park. This is just one of the numerous aviaries located at the Bird Park, in Santa Catalina Island. March 18, 1940. In 1928 William Wrigley, Jr. built the Santa Catalina Bird Park in the Avalon Canyon, which covered eight full acres of land. The "world's largest birdcage" was constructed from the steel structure of the Sugarloaf dance pavilion, that had previously been torn down to make way for the famous Catalina Casino. Over 500 cages of varying sizes housed over 8,000 different species of rare and exotic birds from all over the world, making the Bird Park the Island's most popular attraction. During WWII the Bird Park was significantly scaled back because visitation to the Island was limited, and the Park never regained its pre-war vitality.