While ambassadors are chauffeured to their offices, upscale tourists shop on Presidente Masaryk and office workers of all stripes flood the streets of Polanco, dozens of parakeets are quietly feasting on sunflower seeds, parrots are calling back and forth to one another across Abraham Lincoln park, and even the doves are beginning to coo in the mid-morning sunshine.
If you look too fast you will miss the giant bird cage covered in mesh right near the intersection of Emilio Castelar and Alejandro Dumas streets. For only 7 pesos you can enter into a lush oasis of parakeets, cockatiels, pigeons and songbirds going about their day with no thought of the hustle and bustle outside.
Some of these feathered inhabitants, like the resident peacock will get your attention right away, others you will have to look for, but you can hear their conversations reverberate around this mini jungle. A small circular pathway takes you on a tour around the aviary and a tiny pond in the middle of the tropical trees is home to goldfish and ducks of various varieties. It’s hard to image all these birds living side by side in a giant cage in the middle of the city, but seeing is believing.
The aviary began as a home for many of the tropical or endangered birds illegally sold in markets and collected by the Federal Environmental Protection Office in Mexico City. Neighbors also brought by sick or injured birds that they couldn’t take care of. The aviary was officially founded in 2011 and is now a refuge for over 20 species of winged chilangos.
The aviary is about a 30-minute adventure max and can be reached by taking the metro to Auditorio and walking about 15 minutes to Abraham Lincoln park.
Entrada/Cost: 7pesos
Horas/Hours: Martes a Domingo 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm
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