In addition to the wildlife who reside in the grounds, species of threatened and exotic birds are housed in Harewood House’ own bird garden. Their habitats in the bird garden are kept as close as possible to the conditions they would normally live in. Harewood is also part of several active European and UK breeding programmes which breed different birds around the world. Many of the species you’ll find at Harewood are part of these programmes such as the Bali Starling, Humboldt Penguin and Golden Pheasant.

Out of all the birds housed at Harewood, the Bali Starling is by far the most critically endangered.

Nicholas Downing, Bird Garden Manager said:

"The main cause of the Bali starling’s decline was due to the fact that it was heavily trapped and sold into the caged bird trade, due to its beauty, intelligence and attractive song. 

It is now illegal to take this species from the wild and many captive bred Bali starlings have now been reintroduced to bolster the numbers.

There are now around 80 Bali starlings living wild in their native habitat. Due to the ban in taking these birds from the wild, their value has soared and poachers have carried out armed raids on reserves to steal Bali starlings from their holding cages before they are released into the wild. Although numbers are slowly increasing out in the wild there is still much work to be done to protect them."

Unfortunately however, its not only the Bali Starling that faces extinction in the wild due to humans and the way we trat the birds.

Nicholas also explained:

"Birds are heavily persecuted in their natural habitats and face a huge variety of threats, such as habitat loss- whether this is through farming, deforestation, damming of lakes and rivers, pollution, fishing and climate change related issues.

As mentioned with the Bali starlings, caturing for the pet bird trade is a big problem, especially in Indonesia where keeping caged birds is symbol of high status. There are huge bird markets trading many species of bird which are threatened and although it is illegal to do so in many cases, it is poorly policed, if at all.

Unsustainable hunting is also an issue, especially in developing countries, but also song birds that migrate from the UK to Cyprus and Malta over the winter are caught and eaten as delicacies in large numbers. Traditional Chinese medicine also poses a threat to hornbills, as their beaks are believed to hold healing powers so many are caught and killed due to the high value their beaks fetch. These are only a few of the threats that birds face due to the activities of humans throughout the world."

The charming Humboldt Penguins are by far the most popular birds in the gardens. Originating from Peru in South America, their enclosure resembles the rocky coastline in which they would live in the wild. The colony consists of 8 penguins with the oldest penguin being 25 years old! You can also be given the amazing opportunity to help feed these charismatic creatures and get up close and personal with them for a one-on-one experience.

There is also the option for ultimate bird lovers to adopt a bird. By doing this you’ll not only be helping to conserve species which are endangered or threatened in the wild, but also be helping to meet the daily costs of running the bird garden. You’ll be provided with a welcome pack of your chosen bird and be given regular updates about how it’s getting on at Harewood.

For more information on how to adopt a bird or find out how you can get involved with helping the birds at Harewood, visit their website.