The Bird House by the Numbers

The historic brick wall opening to the Smithsonian's National Zoo Bird House showing a double archway painted with colorful birds and flowers.

The National Zoo’s historic Bird House has re-opened to the public after a six-year renovation. Quinn Evans is proud to be the architect for the building’s renewal as an immersive visitor experience and state-of-the-art animal habitat. The transformed exhibits interpret the amazing story of bird migration, housing birds that spend at least part of their year in North America.

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1st in migration infographic explaining The Bird House at the National Zoo highlighting bird migration cycles.

The Bird House is the first zoo or museum attraction of this size to introduce visitors to the awe-inspiring feat of bird migration.

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Historic photo of The Bird House's brick entrance with panted birds, originally completed in 1928.

The Bird House was designed by DC’s second-ever Municipal Architect, Albert L. Harris, and was originally completed in 1928. It was expanded in 1937 with funding from the Great Depression-era Public Works Administration. Its last major renovation took place in the early 1960s.

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Infographic explaining the 80% brick retention of the The Bird House's revitalization project.

Our design retains over 80% of the building’s existing load-bearing masonry walls, which diverted potential waste from landfills.

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Infographic showing 100 bird icons referencing the 100 species of birds.

The building houses over 100 species of birds, showing the breadth and depth of this class of animals.

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Infographic with three images of the aviaries in The Bird House, all with glass ceilings, shrubbery and enclosed areas with glass separators between the birds and visitors.

Three walk-through aviaries allow visitors to get up close and personal with the birds—for a true multi-sensory experience!

Rendering of a bird observatory with cartoon people visiting the space.

We added a new bird tracking and banding station for the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center to conduct research and inspire citizen scientists.

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10 pools throughout the aviaries, and an image of one of the pools in The Bird House with a painted background.

There are ten pools located throughout the building's aviaries, including two saltwater pools, to mimic the birds’ natural habitats.

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Infographic of four elephants filled approximately 3/4 of the way with a water line to indicate 6,400 gallons of water.

The pools hold a total of 6,400 gallons of water, which weighs approximately the same as four elephants (based on Spike, the National Zoo’s male Asian elephant, who lives just down the hill from the Bird House).

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Infographic of two water drops indicating 65% of outdoor water saved and 43% of indoor water saved at The Bird House.

Our water-saving design reduces the building’s water use by 65% outdoors and 43% indoors through the use of a smart irrigation system outside and water-saving fixtures in the building.

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Infographic displaying the 2x4 rule for bird conservancy design.

The pattern on the building’s bird-friendly glazing follows the American Bird Conservancy’s “2x4” rule. This makes the glass more visible to birds, preventing them from colliding with it.

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Infographic of a streetlamp with text saying, "0 light pollution."

All outdoor lighting has a BUG (Backlight, Uplight, Glare) rating of 0, meaning it creates no light pollution. This is a key bird-friendly feature, as light pollution has a major impact on wild bird migration.